


Just For A Laugh

by GoldenSnitch1998



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2020-03-08 18:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 47,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18899806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenSnitch1998/pseuds/GoldenSnitch1998
Summary: An unexpected relationship occurs during the Yule Ball in Harry’s Fourth Year. But, how will the couple face the Triwizard Tournament? And, how will they handle what is to come after?





	1. Rejected?!

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form. All that jazz belongs to the one and only JK Rowling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected relationship occurs after the Yule Ball, but how will the couple handle the Triwizard Tournament and everything that happens afterwards?

Harry's POV

"You didn't."  
"I did."  
"No way."  
"Uh-huh."  
Harry and Ron were sat on their four-poster beds in the empty Gryffindor 4th year's dormitory. Harry had just told Ron how he had, unsuccessfully, asked Ravenclaw Cho Chang to the Yule Ball. He was supposed to open the Ball and, being the youngest champion, he would be entering first out of the four competitors. Meaning, if he didn't have a date in four days time, he was gonna look like a prize prat dancing by himself alone with an imaginary body. Privately, Harry had thought about taking somebody else, someone other than Cho. But, every time that thought entered his mind, he quickly shoved it back, not to be seen for a long time. "Unless someone fancies making a fool out of themselves that night, I've got no one to go with. I'll just walk into the middle of the dance floor and sit down, I guess." Ron gave him a questioning look. "Why would they be making a fool of themselves?" Harry shrugged and sighed. "I'm a terrible dancer, and my attention will be on Cho all night." Ron nodded. The two boys were silent for a few minutes in deep thought, before Ron gasped dramatically and started flapping his arms like a bee trying to fly with wet wings. "I know! I know! You'll hate me for it, but I know!" Harry, who had leapt a foot off of his bed in surprise, sighed. "If you say what I think you're gonna say, I will literally kill you." He said, taking out his wand and jabbing it in Ron's direction in mock threat. "Fred and George!" Ron exclaimed excitedly, as though he'd not seen the twins in years. Harry’s stomach gave a gigantic lurch. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he yelled, giving his wand a quick swish and flick at Ron, who was lifted off his bed. "Whoa, Harry James Potter, put! Me! Down!" Ron looked slightly terrified as Harry guided him off of the bed. "You said what I thought you were gonna say. Lucky I'm not killing you." He released the charm, and Ron landed with a heavy thud on the hard, wooden floor of the dormitory. Before Harry could stop him, Ron had got hastily to his feet and sprinted out of the room. Harry tried to chase after his best friend, admittedly half-heartedly, but lost him and returned to the dorm in almost- reluctant defeat. 

Fifteen minutes later, Ron returned, dragging Fred Weasley, who was shouting and protesting loudly, with him. "Harry!” Ron shouted over Fred’s protests. “George is going with Angelina Johnson, so I brought Fred!" Ron exclaimed, quite out of breath. Harry wondered why his friend was so puffed, before Fred answered, appearing to have read his mind. "Ron had to chase me round Hogwarts for a solid ten minutes before I gave in and asked him what the bloody hell he wanted. Thought it'd be fun to make him work for it. George got a twisted ankle from falling down the third floor stairs and Ron and I got detention from Snape for shouting in the Dungeons but ah well. Now, Harry. Can you please, for the love of Merlin himself, detach my dear brother here from my arm and explain why he's jabbering on about you and me at the Yule Ball!" Harry flushed slightly. "Ron, let go of Fred. I won't explain until you do." As soon as Ron, albeit reluctantly and after a few moments of thought, let go of Fred's bicep, however, Fred turned to his younger brother, whipping out his wand from his sleeve at the speed of light. "Petrificus Totalus!" Fred yelled, pointing his wand at Ron. Ron's hands clasped by his side, his feet snapped together, and he fell like a board onto his back. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Fred levitated Ron so he was laying on his bed. "There. Now he won't disturb us. Anyway, Harry, what's this issue with the Yule Ball you're having then? Ickle Ronniekins over there wouldn't specify. And where the bloody hell do I fit in?" Fred said calmly, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder in Ron's direction, as though he hadn't just immobilised and levitated the younger Weasley. Fred sat on the edge of Harry's bed and waited expectantly. Harry, who was still half-gaping at Ron and half looking at Fred, took a few moments to reply to Fred's question. "Oh, erm, well... I asked Cho Chang earlier..." Harry hesitated. He didn't know if he could trust Fred with this information without him spreading it round the school accidentally. Fred, however, nodded, an uncharacteristic look of seriousness and sincerity on his face. "Don't worry, Harry, I'll only tell George. We can't keep anything from each other, no matter how big or small. I swear he won't tell anyone else though. And neither will I." Harry nodded, somehow reassured by Fred’s ability to apparently read minds. Or maybe just his. He flushed slightly at that thought, and felt his ears burn. Anyway, that's beside the point and irrelevant. "Well, you see, I'm the youngest champion, so I have to open the Ball. I mean, all the champions do, but I'm youngest, so I'll be going first out of the four. And, well, I'll look a bit of a prat if I was dancing alone. I just... I need to go with someone who doesn't mind making a fool out of themselves. Ron suggested, or rather forced, you, considering you were, somehow, also looking for a date. I mean, that's what Ron told me!" He added hastily, seeing Fred's amused look of 'that's rude' on his face. Fred glared at Ron momentarily, before asking Harry "So, you want me to go to the Yule Ball with you, because you want to go with someone who'll be alright with making a fool out of themselves." Harry smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, basically. I mean, I'm a horrible dancer, I've just been rejected and no doubt Cho will tell everyone I asked her, people will be staring. You don't have to, 'cause, y'know... we'll get called... stuff." Fred grinned happily at Harry, who was trying desperately to ignore the steady reddening of his face. "Don't worry, ickle Harrykins. I'll go with you. Even if it is just for a laugh. I can't believe Harry freaking Potter got rejected in the first place. But yeah, I'll go." Harry nodded, slightly surprised. He had expected to have to persuade Fred a little more. He pushed the thought aside, it didn't really matter. All that mattered was he had someone to go with. At least for the start of the Ball. Then he could find Ron and be done with it all. "Right. Epic. Thanks, Fred, but... are you sure you wouldn't mind going with me?" He asked, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering madly. Fred grinned a grin at him that made his stomach drop through the floor. "Me and George were tryna think of ways we could turn the whole thing into a laugh. Maybe go in bright pink and yellow polka dotted suits or something. We were still struggling on how to do it without wreaking the entire ball. You just made that considerably easier for us. I'll make a fool of myself, according to you, and George will join in at some point." Harry smiled, trying hard not to be slightly offended by Fred's words. Instead, he just nodded. "Right then. Well, thanks Fred." Harry smiled sheepishly at Fred, who just nodded. "Right, best be off." Fred said, slapping his knees. "Gotta tell my clone I'm going The the Yule Ball with Harry Potter." Harry chuckled and waved as Fred exited the dormitory with a dramatic bow, closing the door behind him. Once the door had banged shut, Harry released a long breath he didn’t know he was holding and grinned, giving up the fight with his now deep crimson face. “Guess you heard all that then?" He said to Ron's immobile body. "I'm going to the Yule Ball with your older brother. Jeez that sounds so gay." He then realised. Fred had immobilised Ron, and Harry had forgotten the counter curse. "Oh god, erm, Ron. I can't remember the counter curse for Petrificus Totalus." Harry couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn he saw Ron's eyes roll. He considered screaming after Fred and persuading him to mobilise his brother. Just then, the door to their dorm swung open with another loud bang. "Oh, it's your lucky day. Hermione arrived." This time he definitely saw Ron's eyes roll. Hermione took one look at Ron's still-immobilised corpse, took a moment to think, then gasped and shot a shocked and slightly angry, yet also amused, look in Harry's direction. "Harry James Potter!" She exploded. Oh god, the full name again. "What on earth did you do?!" Harry shrugged casually. "Wasn't me. I swear down it wasn't me." He said, his hands raised hastily in surrender. Hermione gave him a disapproving yet questioning look. "Fred stopped by for a bit." He said simply. “Surprised you didn’t see him his way out, he only just left a minute ago.” Hermione's face changed, as though she had only just dawned on the truth. But she still looked suspicious. "How come you didn't mobilise him after Fred left?" She asked, moving over to inspect Ron's body. Harry explained (again) how Fred had only just left and how he had forgotten the counter-curse. Hermione sighed. "Finite Incantatem." She said simply, pointing her wand at Ron's chest. Of course. Harry regretted letting Hermione remobilise Ron because, the second he could move again, Ron sat bolt upright in bed. "Harry's going to the Yule Ball with Fred!" He all but screamed. Harry was taken aback. He had planned to tell Hermione in a more calm manner, after he'd explained the situations he and Fred had, which he now did, rather hastily, at the look on Hermione's face. Hermione's expression slowly changed from confused, to shocked, to confused, to amazement, to realisation as Harry explained what had happened that night. "Oh. Right. So, he's going with you, for a laugh? That seems a little rude." Harry shrugged. "That's not how I'm taking it. It's only a laugh, a bit of a joke. It'll be fine." Hermione, however, looked slightly disconcerted. "What?" He asked her. She smiled a little nervously. "Aren't you worried about what people like... I don't know... Malfoy would say? They might, you know, call you...stuff." Harry shrugged. "If they call me gay, I don't care." At Ron's shocked expression, Harry added; "I'm not gay! I only meant because being gay is ok, there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, I'm pretty sure Sirius and Remus are gay for each other." He added with a grin. Hermione gasped. "Harry! You can't just go around saying things like that!" She said, although she was smiling a little, and Ron was laughing heartily. Once they had both calmed down, Harry carried on as though nothing had happened. "Plus, the whole school will know it's just for a laugh, I mean, it's Fred Weasley for gods sake, so no one would pay any attention, anyway." At this, Hermione seemed to relax slightly. Harry tried to ignore the disappointed jolt his stomach gave him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Harry sighed for what felt like the millionth time that night, except this time it was out of relief. It was now Ron's turn to ask a question. "Are you telling people, or making them wait?" Harry knew he was asking this for Hermione's purpose, already knowing Harry and Fred's agreement. "Fred's telling George, obviously. But the twins aren't going to tell anyone else, and I don't exactly plan on announcing I'm going to the Ball with Fred Weasley without being able to properly explain myself. Wouldn't want to get people suspicious before they realise it's for a laugh." Ron and Hermione looked apprehensive about something, but they both shrugged. "Ah well, let's just get down to dinner. I'm starving." Ron gratefully suggested. Harry noticed that he, too, was suddenly rather hungry, his stomach growling with emptiness. Agreeing with Ron, the trio made their way down to the Great Hall, Hermione muttering something about Ron always being hungry under her breath.

Once seated at the Gryffindor table, Fred and George came bounding over. Fred plonked himself into the seat next to Harry while George plonked himself opposite his twin and next to Ron. "So... Harry. You're going to the Yule Ball with my twin brother?" George said in a little more than a hushed whisper so no one else could hear, a look of amusement on his face. Fred leaned in a whispered to Harry, so only he could here. "I haven't told him why I'm going with you yet. Wanted to see his reaction. Pretended to cry and everything!" He said with a snicker. Harry became instantly more nervous around George, but found the situation horribly amusing. Just the thought that Fred hadn’t told George about the whole ‘just for a laugh’ thing made Harry even more cheerful and hopeful than he already was. "Careful, Fred. You’re both underage." George said, winking at Harry. "Anyways, Potter. You're going with Fred, which means you're also going with me. And Angelina. Because Fred is my twin, I go with Fred. Because Angelina is my date, Angelina goes with me. Understand?" Harry nodded. George winked. "Good. Also, no funny business. I'm not having Fred losing stuff before me." The effect of those words was instantaneous. Harry spat his pumpkin juice all over Ron and George, Ron choked on his beef, Hermione shook her head, and the twins roared with laughter. George quickly cast a drying charm on Ron and himself, still grinning broadly, before continuing to address Harry. "Seriously, Harry. He's useless. I wouldn't bother if I were you." Fred stomped his feet in laughter, almost whacking his knees on the underside of the table, and Harry shot George a questioning look. However, it was Fred who answered through his laughter. "We are... ha ha... identical twins you know!" He and George roared, stomping their feet and slapping the table with fresh laughter, sending food flying in all directions. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked questionably at the two laughter-stricken boys, but they were all grinning. It was George who spoke next. "They don't... ha ha ha... realise do they... ha ha... Fred?" Fred slapped the table again, hardly able to speak due to the laughter that was currently controlling him. Taking a few deep breaths, Fred spoke. "No... they don't... ha ha... George." Then, they said in unison. "We're identical. We have identical bodies as well as faces!" The trio exchanged looks of confusion, before realisation dawned on them. All three of them stood up and left the twins stomping and slapping, and could still hear them roaring with laughter on the second floor. "I just learnt something about my older brothers that I never even knew I didn't want to know." Ron said. Harry smiled, blushing slightly, and Hermione shook her head. "Those two are honestly ridiculous. Anyway, what did Fred say to you when they arrived, Harry?" She asked. Harry blushed a little more and cleared his throat before answering. "He, er, hasn't told George the... situation yet. George thinks Fred is genuinely going with me because we l-like each other, not just for a laugh. Fred went all out in tricking him, even pretended to cry, apparently." Ron gasped and smiled. "So that's why Fred's face looked so red! I wondered if he'd been crying. You two wouldn't have seen it, you were next to him, but it looked like he'd been crying for hours." The three of them chortled all the way back to the common room, before departing to go to their respective dorms. 

"Right. We've got an essay from McGonagall, two essays from Snape, a reading to do from Flitwick, and a whollop of defensive spells to practise for Moody! Bloody hell, never had so much homework in my life!" Harry groaned, wishing the Yule Ball would just hurry up, so they could have a break from the mountain of homework they had to do.


	2. Don’t you dare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Fred and George come across each other’s paths once again, but there’s a certain white haired ferret lurking around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. All that fun stuff belongs to JK Rowling

Harry woke up two days later to find himself alone. Everyone else had left, which was strange enough in itself, but since when did Ron ever wake up before him? Harry climbed out of his soft four-poster bed, showered, dressed, brushed his teeth and left for the common room. 

Whispers followed him everywhere. He was used to this by now, being the Boy who Lived and unwilling champion in the Triwizard Tournament, but it was a different whisper. A curious one. Harry caught little snippets of what people were saying, but not much. 'Can't be true'... 'what if he's'... why would he'... Harry was just about to exit through the portrait hole when he heard the full whisper. 'It surely can't be true. Fred Weasley?' Harry whipped around. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were looking at him, but quickly averted their eyes when they each caught him looking at them. Harry walked swiftly over to them. "What did you just say?" He asked politely. Lavender and Parvati exchanged a sceptical look. "Well? I heard Fred's name. What about him?" Lavender took a deep breath and glanced nervously at Parvati before speaking. "Are you going to the Yule Ball with Fred Weasley?" She asked, quite loudly. The Common Room instantly went silent. Every eye was on him. Thankfully, at that moment, Ron, Fred, George and Hermione walked through the portrait hole. Everyone glanced at them before averting their eyes back to Harry, although some lingered on Fred, and some switched between Fred and Harry. "Fred. George. Ron, Hermione where the hell have you been?" Harry asked, striding over to them. "Sorry, Harry. Went for an early breakfast. Ronniekins was up all night trying to fix his... er... beautiful dress robes so we decided to accompany him." George said. "Right. Well, Fred, can I have a word?" He asked, looking directly at the Weasley Twin. "Uh... sure." He said. Harry beckoned for him to bend over so Harry could stand on his toes and whisper in Fred's ear, being sure make it barely audible even for Fred, knowing the whole Common Room was trying to listen in. "They know. Lavender Brown just asked me if I'm going with you." Fred snickered slightly, a sly, mischievous grin on his face. "I got this." He straightened up and shouted, at the top of his lungs; "I'M GOING TO THE YULE BALL WITH HARRY POTTER!" The Common Room was silent for what felt like hours. Then, all hell broke loose. Cheers, claps, applause, even songs were being chanted. Fred grinned and bent over once again so that Harry could hear him over the racket while people slapped their backs and ruffled their hair. "Now to spoil the fun." He said, beaming as he straightened up and climbed onto a table. "Right, ladies and gents!" The Common Room instantly silent, all eyes on either Fred or Harry, looks of awe, shock and admiration scattered around on the many different faces. "Hate to be a killjoy, very uncharacteristic of me but ah well." Fred continued. "Anyways, yes. I'm going to the Ball with Harry-" a few cheers sounded. "But! Unfortunately, Harry got rejected by the girl he really wanted to go with." Harry saw something flash across Fred's face. Was it longing? Disappointment? But, a second later, it had gone, replaced by the usual, cheesy grin. Harry looked around and, for a second, it appeared to be that only he had noticed, until he saw George, who was giving his twin a look, as though he, like Harry, was trying to figure out what he had just seen. Harry turned his attention back to Fred, making a mental note to talk to George. "So my ickle bro over here..." he gestured to Ron, who turned bright red. "Literally chased me all over Hogwarts for ten minutes, got me and him detention for it, George got a sprained ankle from it, and dragged me by my arm all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry told me the situation. Me and Harry are only going to the Yule Ball together for a laugh. We don't have any sort of feelings for each other..." Harry saw that flash of a weird look cross Fred's face again. "...it's just for a joke, that's all." Harry nodded as there was a collective groan from the crowd of Gryffindors. "Right. Second breakfast of the day!" Fred exclaimed. With that, he jumped off of the table and linked arms with Harry and George, and began leading the way to the Great Hall. "Hold on!" Harry said, breaking away from Fred. He grabbed hold of George‘s elbow, and turned to the other three. "You go on. We'll catch up." Fred, Ron and Hermione exchanged a confused look, and George looked at him questioningly, but no one said anything. Once the trio had gone, Harry pulled George to a quiet corner. "You saw it too, didn't you?" He demanded. George looked confused for a second, before his face changed into a look of understanding. "If you mean the look of utter disappointment, longing, hunger and affection that flashed across my twin's face, then, yeah, I did." Harry nodded.   
"So that's what it was then. I couldn't figure out what I'd seen." George nodded. "I'll talk to him about it later, but, if he asks, you didn't see it. Got that?" Harry nodded, and the two of them exited the portrait hole and caught up to Hermione, Fred and Ron, who were walking slow in order to give Harry and George time. 

News quickly spread that Harry was going to the Ball with Fred. Harry didn't mind, because everyone knew it was for a joke. As the five of them entered the Great Hall, eyes followed him again. 'He's going with him... 'are they gay or something?'... 'I bet they are. Wouldn't surprise me.' Harry ignored them, lifting his chin up a little and making a beeline for the Gryffindor table. Once seated, with Harry wedged between Fred and Ron and George and Hermione opposite them, George rounded on Harry and Fred; particularly Fred. He looked amused and annoyed at the same time. "You could have told me it was a joke! And Fred, I believed you and everything! You even cried for Merlin's sake!" He huffed dramatically and folded his arms, pouting like a four year old. Harry snickered a little, but Fred gave a shout if laughter. "Nah. That'd ruin the fun. And actually, dear twin, I pretended to cry. Surprised you didn't notice, we used to do it so much as kids." Harry heard Ron mutter 'no kidding.' From his other side and snorted slightly into his cereal. The five of them talked for the remainder of breakfast, with Hermione boring them for a few minutes on the dynamics of a whatsit nogood gobbledegook. With five minutes to get to their individual classes, they exited the Great Hall, bading goodbye to each other as they did. Harry and Ron heading to Divination, Hermione to Arithmancy, and Fred and George going to Charms.

Harry, Ron and Hermione's first lesson after lunch was Double Potions with the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs. By the time they got down to the dungeons, the back of the line was filing into the dark classroom. Running to catch up, they followed Ernie MacMillan, a fellow Fourth Year except he was in Hufflepuff, into to dungeon. Professor Snape was already stood at the front, assigning partners to those already seated. "Malfoy go with Parkinson. Weasley with Longbottom." Ron groaned quietly and mumbled something about already failing the lesson. "Granger with Potter. Hopefully you can wheedle out some of the scarce knowledge he has in that arrogant, self-centred brain of his." Harry clenched his fists, and Hermione grabbed his elbow. Harry was just thinking about what had put the Potion's Master in such a bad mood, then he remembered that, in the lesson before lunch, the Weasley Twins had had Potions with Snape, and they had said something about getting a detention to their friend Lee Jordan as they arrived at the Gryffindor table. Harry instantly felt a little better, knowing that Fred and George must have pulled some sort of prank on the teacher he loathed seemed rather amusing. Snape put the instructions on the board. It looked to be a horrendously complicated Potion, but Hermione told him to crush some dead beetle looking creatures and cut the Scalamander skin extremely finely. As the Scalamander skin slices weren't needed until the end of the potion, Harry was set for the lesson, if he took his time. Malfoy was on the next desk with Pansy Parkinson, another Slytherin, and was jeering at Harry, but he did all he could to focus all of his attention on the skin. "Hey, Potter! Is it true you're going to the Yule Ball with Fred Weasley?" Malfoy hissed, leaning into the gap between the tables. "He's a bit... shabby... for someone as famous as you, don't you think? He probably can't even afford proper dress robes." Luckily, Ron was at the other end of the classroom, and was too busy focusing on getting the Potion right with Snape breathing down his neck and Neville chittering nervously beside him to focus on what Malfoy was saying, very audibly. "So does that mean you're... gay, Potter? I mean, famous Harry Potter. Surely you can at least pick up a girl? Mind you, I wouldn't want to get with a selfish arse who cheats their way in to a competition then lies about it. Especially if they've got a great ugly scar on their head." He sneered, while Pansy Parkinson laughed. Harry tightened his grip on the knife in his hand, but Hermione hissed at him. "Relax. Don't let him get to you. And watch where you're cutting!" Harry had been cutting in the same place, making a dent in the table. He took out his wand. "Reparo." He whispered, and the dent disappeared. Harry resumed cutting the Scalamander skin. "Anyways, Potter. How do you know it really is Fred Weasley? He does have a clone, you know. Nasty beasts those twins are. Crazy if you ask me. Totally deranged little- ARGH!" Malfoy screamed, clutching his arm, where a black knife handle was sticking out of it, crimson blood oozing out from the deep wound. "NEVER. EVER. INSULT FRED AND GEORGE IN FRONT OF ME, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Harry screamed. Malfoy frantically nodded, still crying and clutching his profusely bleeding inner elbow, where his shirt sleeve was rapidly turning a metallic red colour. "Potter! What on earth have you done?!" Snape shouted, gliding over to them. "THAT LITTLE BASTARD OF A STUDENT INSULTED FRED AND GEORGE, THAT'S WHAT!" Harry screamed and, pushing Malfoy out of the way, he ran out of the classroom, flinging the door open and slamming it shut behind him. 

In his fit of rage, he didn't care where he was. He didn't really have a destination. He was just walking as fast and far as he could in an attempt to cool off a bit. As he had time to think, the events of the past few minutes began to hit him. He'd done it now. He was going to be expelled. He should just go and pack. He wouldn't be allowed to go to the Ball at least. What would Fred say, when he found out what Harry had done? Surely, he wouldn't want to go with him anymore. Harry was just thinking about what could possibly happen between them now, when he smacked into something solid. Looking up slightly, he saw it was George, standing outside the transfiguration classroom, along with Fred. Relief flooded through him, and he relaxed slightly. "Hey, Harry. You could have just said 'hi', you know. You didn't have to walk into me." George laughed. Fred looked around, almost frantically, before he turned to face Harry, avoiding the green eyes. Fred grinned. "Been sent out, have you?" Harry asked, his voice sounding slightly strained. George laughed again. "Yeah. One of the Slytherins, forgot his name, took the mess out of Fred and you, so we slammed him onto the floor and punched him. He's black, blue and red now." He explained with a smile. "He'd be dead instead of just out cold, though, if McGonagall hadn't blasted us apart." Fred grinned again, although it looked slightly forced. Harry smiled a little, knowing they'd lost control too calmed him slightly. "Never been so angry in my life, I swear. It was weird." Fred said, while George nodded. If he had to admit, Harry did think they looked a bit pale. And both of them were shaking slightly, especially Fred, whose hands Harry could see were trembling like leaves in the wind, balled into fists and stuffed in his trouser pockets. "Anyways, what the bloody hell are you doing here? Don't you have Potions?" Fred asked, just as the bell rang. The twins groaned. They and Harry were in double periods of their lessons. "Ugh, double transfiguration. Never take it for NEWT, Harry. You'll regret it." George said. Fred, however, turned back to Harry. "Don't change the subject, Georgie. I wanna know why ickle Harrykins is out of lesson." Harry toed the floor.   
"Um, well. I threw a knife at Draco Malfoy." He mumbled. "Hold on a sec, what was that, Harry? Didn't catch it." George said. Harry lifted his head up and said confidently, "I threw a knife at Draco Malfoy." The twins gawped at him. They each made a move to speak but, at that moment, Professor McGonagall came out of the classroom. "Right, you two- Mr Potter, what on earth are you doing here? Don't tell me you got sent here!" She said. Harry shook his head and mumbled something about seeing Fred. "I doubt you are here only to see Mr Weasley, so you can come in, too." She lead all three of them into the classroom. Many eyes turned to Harry, including Fred and George's, as they were still attempting to communicate with him. "Everybody, carry on. Remember, I can hear and see you in my office." And, with that, she lead the trio into the office that conjoined onto the classroom. Harry was surprised to see that McGonagall could indeed see the rest of the classroom, as though there wasn't a solid brick wall in the way. Harry had never been in here during a lesson before, but clearly Fred and George had, as none of them showed any sort of surprise, where Harry couldn't help but be amazed. "Mr Weasley times two, you both have detention with me, tonight, at six o'clock. Same tomorrow as well. Don't say you already have one, I know you don't!" She added, as both the twins started to speak. "You two can go. Mr Potter- go away, boys!" Fred and George, however, remained firmly, and a little defensively, where they stood, either side of Harry at his shoulders. "We stay." They said in unison. Harry’s stomach did a backflip. The twins were being so protective. Fred was being so protective... McGonagall sighed when Harry nodded. "Very well." She conjured up three straight-backed chairs and told them to sit, which they did. "Right. Mr Potter, to what do I owe the pleasure?" She said, her lips slightly pursed. "Well, you see, Professor." He was saved from explaining however, when a jet black owl swooped through the window. Harrys stomach dropped through the floor. He recognised that owl.

"Why on earth is Severus sending me an owl now? Shouldn't he be teaching?" McGonagall mumbled to to herself. "I have to read this boys. Just excuse me for a second." The three of them nodded and exchanged looks. They all knew why Snape was owling McGonagall. Sure enough, the more she read, the paler she got, and the thinner her mouth went. And, the more she read, the more butterflies appeared in Harry’s stomach. He was terrified. Snape would obviously twist the tale so that it sounded worse than it actually was, which would undoubtably get Harry in even more trouble than he already was. Fred and George looked at each other and appeared to be communicating, where one of them morphed their face into weird expressions that the other twin seemed to understand, then vice versa. In unison, both twins nodded, and laid a hand on Harry’s shoulder. Fred on his right, George on his left. George leaned in. “We’ll figure it out. Just take whatever she says on the chin.” He whispered. George returned to his original position, and Fred leaned in. Harry didn’t miss the hitch in Fred’s breath, nor was he able to stop his own air catching in his throat. “She’ll ask for your side. If she doesn’t, ask to tell it.” He whispered. When she'd finished reading the letter, McGonagall folded the slightly crinkled parchment up slowly and took her time putting it back into the envelope. "Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley please leave the room for a moment." She said, quietly but firmly. Harry shook his head, as did Fred and George. "They already know, Professor. I told them." McGonagall bowed her head and sighed, knowing full well it was useless arguing. "Well, in which case, you can stay. Mr Potter, do you have any idea how serious that is?" Harry eyed his shoes as he toed the floor and felt Fred squeeze his shoulder. Neither twin had removed their hands. "Yes, Professor." he said quietly. McGonagall sighed again. "Then why on earth did you do it? Did you want to kill him?" Harry's head shot up. "No, Professor, of course not." And he launched into the explanation of everything, right from the start, and made sure he told the truth all the way through. By the time he'd finished telling the story, the twins looked mutinous and McGonagall had relaxed slightly, her face softer. "Very well, Mr Potter. Professor Snape has set you detention every Thursday for the rest of term. And to add to that, no flying for the rest of the term, either." There was an uproar. Fred, George and Harry all leapt out of their seats.   
"You can't do that!"  
"Are you having a laugh?!"  
"We need him for the team! He's our best player!"   
"I won't even be able to practise?! That's ridiculous!"  
"SILENCE!"  
Fred, George and Harry quietened immediately, although they were breathing like angry bulls and all three of them were glowering mutinously at McGonagall. "Don't look at me like that. Sit down." Harry and George didn't move, but Fred kicked his chair backwards, breaking one of its legs and sending it flying into the invisible wall. "Very well." McGonagall said, repairing the chair and levitating it back to its original position behind Fred, who glowered even more. McGonagall ignored him. "And, don't start shouting again, Mr Potter I stand by my punishment of no flying. However, you will do your detentions with Professor Moody instead of Professor Snape, in order to prepare for the Second Task. You're lucky you're still going to the Yule Ball. Had you not been a champion, you wouldn't be going.” Despite himself, Harry snorted. "I'd rather not go, Professor." McGonagall ignored him.   
"Weasleys, remember your detentions, because I can stop you two going to the Ball, even if one of you is going with Potter." Harry's eyes were suddenly looking interested and shocked. "How did you know?" He asked, while Fred looked equally shocked. "I was about to tell Mr Celest off before these two reacted." She said, gesturing to the twins. "I overheard what he was saying. Your secret is safe with me, however." She said, with a slight smile that seemed to calm Harry, Fred and George slightly. "Potter, I will be calling to Gryffindor Tower at 5 o'clock, when I will be collecting your Firebolt and keeping it with me until the end of term." Harry groaned but didn't argue, knowing it was a lost cause trying to dim the punishment. McGonagall dismissed them with a warning to keep their tempers. After getting permission from her, Fred and George grabbed their bags and the three of them went to Gryffindor Tower, each collapsing into the sofa in front of the fire. Harry, knowing that Ron and Hermione would bring his stuff up with them from Potions, fell asleep within a couple of hours, despite it only being 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Fred's arm was wrapped round him, Harry's head nestled in his chest. He heard the twins quietly talking to each other as he slipped away into dreamland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here’s the second chapter!! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been reading through the rest of the story on my Wattpad account (ThatDudeThing). Kudos? Review?


	3. Dress Robes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Fred and George need new dress robes, so they decide to take a trip to Hogsmeade...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three!! Finally!! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been editing

Harry was sat in the Great Hall, next to Fred and Ron. It was Christmas Eve, and the Yule Ball was just 16 hours away. Safe to say, Harry was not in the best mood. "Aw, come on, Harry! It's gonna be great!" George said, leaning across the table to lightly punch Harry's arm. Fred nudged him. "Yeah, Harrykins, don't worry." He said. Harry merely grunted in response. He kept glancing over at Cho, sometimes making eye contact, before quickly looking back down at his plate. No, he couldn't think about Cho. Not today. "Oops." Fred muttered. Harry, Ron and Hermione instantly stood up and took a couple of steps back away from the table. "What are you three doing? It won't kill you!" George said, grinning. It was Ron who answered. "When it comes to you two, 'oops' usually means 'run, duck and cover'." This sent all five of them into a fit of roaring laughter. 

After breakfast, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Fred and George decided to have a 4 v 4 snowball fight out in the grounds. Harry, Seamus, Fred and Ron vs Neville, Hermione, Dean and George. Fred and George's friend Lee Jordan was refereeing and commentating, making sure no magic was used. Neville threw a well-aimed snowball at the back of Harry's head, sending an avalanche of snow down the best of his shirt, which caused him to hop around with an arched back for a solid five minutes, attempting to shake the cold snow out of his shirt. Fred and George were roaring with laughter the whole time, so Harry shoved a load of snow in George's face. George chased Harry round the grounds, and it was safe to say that Harry learnt not to mess with George Weasley. After the snowball fight, they headed down to the kitchens for some hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls, made by the house elves. Hermione, however, insisted on making her own, mumbling something about slave labour and SPEW as she did. Once they were all warmed up, Fred suggested they sneak into Hogsmeade, with a little help from the Marauders, as he and George needed dress robes. Harry and Ron agreed. Harry himself needed dress robes, and Ron wanted to go to Honeydukes. Hermione, however, wasn't too fond of the idea. "Are you mad? It's Christmas Eve, teachers will be there!" Harry, Ron and the twins just gave her a blank look. "Honestly, Boys these days! You'll get caught, then you'll be banned from Hogsmeade!" She said shrilly.   
"So? Worth the risk. As we said, we need dress robes. We can't exactly go in our uniform." George said. Hermione just huffed. Harry, Ron, Fred and George bade goodbye to everyone else, before heading through the one-eyed witch passageway, laughing the whole way about the snowball fight. "Did you see Harry when Hermione threw that snowball at his face?!" Fred laughed. George doubled over with laughter, causing the others to stop and wait for him to calm down. "Sorry... ha ha, that was hilarious!" Ron laughed and clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Yeah, well, what about that one that George threw at your butt? Looked like you'd peed your pants!" Ron and George both roared with laughter, but Fred stuttered, trying to defend himself. "Hey, I-it got down my trousers and my undies! W-what did you expect?" He said, grinning. In what felt like no time at all, the four of them were climbing out of the passageway and into Honeydukes cellar. "Bloody hell, never been down here before!" Ron said, before grabbing a box of an assortment of sweets and stuffing the contents into his bag. "Ron! Now, we're troublemakers, but we're not thieves!" George exclaimed, gesturing to himself and Fred. Both twins had identical looks of astonishment on their faces. Ron merely shrugged before lobbing a sickle into the empty box. "There. Sorted." Harry sighed. Once the twins and Ron weren't looking, he added a Galleon into the box. "Now it's sorted." He sighed under his breath. The four of them snuck out of the cellar, into the main store. Thankfully, the shop was quite busy, so nobody noticed the three students that had just appeared out of the ground. "We'll meet you back in the passageway, Ron. We need dress robes." Said Fred, gesturing to himself, George and Harry. All three of them had just bought a sizeable amount of sweets, dodging the questions of the till guy, who asked how old they were and if they should be in school. The three of them left rather hastily after saying bye to Ron and headed down the cold, icy street towards the robe shop. 

Once back in the warmth, Fred inhaled deeply. "Ahh, I love the smell of new robes!" He said. George looked a little pink-faced, but Harry had a feeling it wasn't from the cold. "Yeah, well, let's go to our section, then. See you in a bit Harry!" Harry, throughly confused, followed the twins after giving them a small head start. He stopped, however, when he saw them browsing through the second-hand section. Feeling a little embarrassed, he started to walk away before he heard them talking. "Jeez, these are awful, I'd much rather have them blue ones from the main section." He heard George sigh a little sadly as Fred replied. "I'd rather have the dark red ones, you know, the one with the black tie?" Harry didn't hear a reply, so he assumed that George just nodded. "Ah, here we are, a large. Finally! Ugh, these are ugly!" Harry walked off, towards the main section, and chose some black and white ones for himself. After he'd paid, he met up with the twins near the fitting room. "Couldn't find any that took our fancy, we'll have to ask mum to pop to Diagon Alley for us, and hope they get here before tonight. If not, hope you don't mind me going in my uniform, Harry!" Fred explained with grin, but it looked forced. Harry, however, gave him and George a true grin. George eyed him suspiciously. "What are you smiling about?" He asked, his voice laced with concern and suspicion. Harry pulled out two more sets of dress robes from behind his back, each covered by an opaque white suit bag, handing one to Fred and one to George. "I overheard you two talking." He explained, grinning at the shocked expressions on the twins' faces as they both unzipped their bags in a single, synchronised motion. "Blimey, Harry! These are the ones we wanted!" Fred exclaimed. "How did you afford all that?" George asked, looking in awe at Harry. "You both know I have more money than I need." He said. Both twins thanked him and, to his surprise, he saw George had almost-well concealed tears in his eyes. "What's up, George?" He asked. George sniffed. "Just never had any new robes before. Ours have always been second hand." He said. Fred nodded, rubbing his twin's shoulder comfortingly. "Because we're twins, we started Hogwarts at the same time, so mum obviously had to buy two sets of everything all at once. She just couldn't, because we needed wands and cauldrons etc as well." Fred explained. Just then, Ron burst into the shop, out of breath and pink-faced. "Fred... Harry... McGonagall! Coming... here!" He said through panting breaths. All four of them froze then, as one, they sprinted out of the shop, back down the street, through a shortcut, and into Honeydukes. "What do you four think you're doing?" Said a familiar, strict voice behind them. "Oh god." Fred muttered.   
“Erm, hi, Professor! Just, erm, dress robe shopping! George said, holding up his new dress robes. Harry and Fred did the same. Ron nodded. "I couldn't find any I liked, Professor." He lied. McGonagall's mouth thinned, if possible, even further. "You are to come with me back to Hogwarts, and you're going to, truthfully, explain yourselves!" She said, beckoning them out of the shop. “You said she was going to the robe shop.” Harry heard Fred angrily murmur to Ron.

The walk back to Hogwarts was not pleasant, to say the least. Ron kept shooting confused looks at the twins' new dress robes, and Harry kept bumping into Fred, as he had his head bowed in the wind. They all walked in silence, even Fred and George seemed to know that they were all in deep, deep trouble. Once back in McGonagall's office, she conjured four straight-backed chairs out of thin air and they all sat. "Now." She said, her voice deadly quiet. "Explain yourselves." Harry and Ron let Fred and George speak, knowing they had a higher chance of lying their way out, and merely nodded at valid points. "Well, you see, Professor, all four of us needed new dress robes, so we decided to pop down to Hogsmeade to get some. Zonko is a friend of ours, you see, and he agreed to accompany us, to make sure we weren't alone." George started. Fred continued. "We got there through the Shrieking Shack, you know, the Whomping Willow. From there we just went to the robe shop, then we were planning on nipping into Honeydukes before coming back for lunch. That's why we're were running. We didn't want to be late back." Fred said.   
"Zonko had to go back to his shop after we went robe shopping because of something to do with his shop, can't remember what he said." George said, with an asking look at Fred, Ron and Harry, who all shook their heads. "And that's why we were alone when you found us. But we knew our way back from Honeydukes, and we obviously know how to stop the Willow, so we were just going to head from Honeydukes, straight back to Hogwarts." Fred finished. Harry and Ron both nodded, and George held up his bag that contained his new dress robes once again. McGonagall's mouth widened a little. "In which case, if that is the truth, I will be sending an owl to Mr Zonko, explaining he is not to allow students to enter Hogsmeade, unless on an authorised weekend. I'll be writing to all your families, and you all have detention. Off you go." She said. The three Weasleys and Harry left without hesitation, not wanting to question their punishment. 

As they exited the classroom, Fred, George and Ron all looked pale. "We'll be getting Howlers." Said Ron, when Harry questioned their worries. "Anyways, screw the Howlers." Ron said after a short silence. "How the bloody hell did you afford those robes?" He gestured towards the twins' bags. "Oh, owl orders. Harry had to help us with some of it, but mainly it was from the money we make through the sweets." Harry was grateful for Fred lying to Ron. He didn't know what size robes Ron was, so he couldn't buy him any. Ron looked a little disgruntled, but dropped to subject. "Wait, what about that owl to Zonko?" Harry questioned. Ron pricked up, interested. Fred let out a breathy laugh, and George smiled slightly. "He's a friend of ours. He'll lie for us. He's done it before, when we've been late back, and when we got caught sneaking to Hogsmeade in our Fourth Year." Fred said, Ron laughing at the memory of the Howler from Mrs Weasley the twins had received. 

As they we're heading up the steps leading to Gryffindor Tower, they heard an all-too-familiar drawling voice behind them. "New robes, Weasley? Oh wait, Weasleys. Forgive me. Got them second hand, have you? Surprised you can even afford that!" Malfoy said, while Crabbe and Goyle snickered. Harry opened his mouth to defend the twins, when Fred put a hand on his shoulder. "Let us." He said quietly. Once again, in a single motion, both twins unzipped their bags and took out their dress robes. Malfoy paled even more than usual. "See these, Malfoy?" George said, gesturing his robes. "Designer. 40 Galleons a set. And we bought two. So, shut your face and run along. Bet yours didn't cost 80 Galleons, now, did they?" Malfoy took a step back. "How did you- I bet Potter bought them for you! You're too poor to even buy the tie!" Harry took a couple of steps forwards, so he was standing next to Fred. This time, he wasn't stopped. "Actually, Malfoy, they bought those themselves. I only bought my own." He shook his quarter-full money bag to emphasise the point. "Unless you've forgotten the last time you made fun of the twins, I suggest you shut up and go back to your dormitory, before I inflict more damage." Malfoy, if possible, paled even further, clearly remembering the knife that had been thrown at him. He grabbed his cronies and strutted back down the stairs, away from the three Weasleys and Harry, who went through the Portrait Hole, through the Common Room, and into Fred and George's Sixth Year dormitory. Hermione, seeing them come in, followed. 

To no surprise at all, the dormitory was a mess. The boys' trunks were open and there were robes chucked haphazardly everywhere. Fred and George's school uniform was jumbled together and strewn over their beds. The place was littered with Zonko's products, everything from Dungbombs to Fanged Frizbees. There were pairs of trousers, shirts, ties and sweet wrappers cluttering the floor, which made it difficult to walk without stepping on something. Fred sighed and shoved the mix of sweets, parchment, textbooks and wrappers off his bed and sat down as George did the same. "Honestly!" Said Hermione, who was stood at the door, looking appalled at the state of the room. Fred looked over his shoulder at her. "What? It's not that bad!" Hermione shook her head before taking out her wand and waving it in one, swift motion. Immediately, clothes began folding themselves, books became neatly stacked on bedside cabinets, beds were made (Fred and George leapt off theirs in surprise when the sheets started moving), drawers were being closed, sweet wrappers disappeared, the contents of trunks neatened themselves and the whole place was eventually spotless, as though nothing had ever been moved. "That was bloody brilliant!" Ron said, a look of awe on his face. Fred and George were turning on the spot, looking throughly confused. "I don't like this. It's clean." George said, his nose crinkled. "Yeah, it looks weird!" Fred agreed. Both twins, however, had small smiles hidden beneath their disgusted expressions. Hermione, looking rather pleased with herself, shrugged and sat on Lee's bed. "At least it's clean. Now, you four are going to tell me what happened in Hogsmeade and why you took so long. You went for dress robes, which I can see you have, at least, bought. But it did not need to take two hours!" Harry, Ron, Fred and George sat down, Ron on another Sixth Year boy's bed, Harry and George on Fred's bed and Fred on George's. Then, as one, they all launched into the explanation of what happened, from their trip down the passageway right up to getting detention from McGonagall. By the end of it, Hermione looked amused and a little horrified. "I did tell you not to go! But, blimey, how did you not get banned from Hogsmeade, at the very least? And how did she not notice that all your bags are stuffed with sweets? Safe to say you all got very lucky." She added, when the four boys merely shrugged. "Anyways, there's only 4 hours till the Ball starts, I need to go and get ready. See you all later!" She said. Harry, Ron and the twins exchanged an identical look that said 'who takes four hours to get ready for a school dance?'

"Harry, no, not that one!" Fred yelled, as Harry popped a bright green sweet into his mouth. The boys had been laughing and talking about random subjects for a while now, occasionally grabbing a stray sweet and daringly eating it (Harry and Ron only did so after getting confirmation from the twins that it was safe), with varying levels of results. So far, the most amusing ones were Ron's ears growing to three times their usual size, George's nose and eyes turning bright purple, and Fred's head growing to roughly the size of a pumpkin. Now, however, Harry felt his throat constricting. George was frantically looking for something, Ron was looking around the room, not knowing what to do, and Fred was giving Harry instructions and shouting frantically at George. "Harry, you need to straighten your back, as straight as you can get it, that's it. Now, breathe through your mouth, that'll stop your throat closing all the way, George, hurry up!" Harry's airway was getting smaller and smaller, he was finding it harder and harder to breathe. He tried to follow Fred's instructions, but he was weak and he could barely hear him. "Harry! Breathe for me, Harry, come on!" He could hear Fred's muffled voice. There were black spots clouding the edge of his vision, he could barely see or breathe. He was getting light headed. His windpipe was closing, he could feel it. It was too hard to suck in air... Harry felt his airway close the whole way. He tried with all his might, but no air could get to his lungs. He heard Fred's muffled voice once more. "George! His airway has closed up! I need that now, or he'll suffocate!" Then, he heard George's even more muffled reply. "I'm trying, Fred! I can't find it!" His vision was now more black than clear, his hearing getting worse. "George! He's... -ning... blue!" Harry felt himself fall against the bedframe, all strength gone from him. Fred grabbed hold of his arms, but Harry couldn’t feel it. His lungs were burning, screaming for air, but Harry didn't have the energy to panic. He didn't have the energy to fight. He just watched as his vision got blacker and blacker, and the twins' voices getting more and more muffled. Ron has now joined in on the talking, but Harry couldn’t hear what he was saying. The world around him was fading away, fading into blackness. And Harry just wanted it to take him in, away from the burning sensation all over his body. Just as he was about to pass out, he heard George shout, breaking through his deafness. "Got it!" And, next thing he new, another sweet was being rammed into his open mouth. Harry tried to chew, but his jaw wouldn’t move. He tried to swallow, but he didn’t have the energy. Fred took a hand off of Harry’s right arm and, the next thing he knew, Fred was forcing the sweet down Harry’s throat with his own finger. After a few seconds, Harry swallowed it with immense difficulty but, as soon as he had, he could breathe normally again, even easier than ever before. He took huge, gulping breaths as everything became unmuffled and blinked as everything slowly became focused. Fred jumped back, away from Harry. All three Weasleys looked extremely pale, but colour flooded their faces when Harry spoke. "What the bloody hell was that?" Fred let out a relieved sigh before answering. "That, Harry, was a sweet we're developing for our Skiving Snackboxes. It's a Puking Pastille, designed to make you gag and throw up. Although, as you can tell, we haven't found the right balance of ingredients yet, and we've run out of money to buy more." He added quietly. Harry blushed slightly, but George spoke up. "Thanks for testing it, though! That's our latest batch, guess we can scratch it. Me and Fred were going to test them after the Ball." Harry glanced at his watch. "Blimey! Speaking of the Ball, there's less than an hour until it starts, and me and Fred have to be there ten minutes early!" He said, leaping up. Fred did the same and began rushing about, grabbing his shower things. "I can't find anything in this damn clean room!" Harry heard him shout as he and Ron both sprinted out of the twins' dormitory and into their own. Neville and Dean were already getting ready for the Ball, but Harry and Ron barely registered their greetings and questions as they both grabbed their own shower things and dashed into the bathroom, stripping off their t-shirts as they did so. 

After their showers, both boys ran back into the dormitory to find that Neville and Dean had gone. Harry looked at his watch. "Oh, for god’s sake! I've got 10 minutes to get down there!" Ron took his dress robes out his trunk, and Harry realised something. "Bloody hell, I've left mine in the twins' room!" He said, dashing back to their dormitory. He yanked open the door to find both twins shirtless, with only their underwear on. Harry immediately shut his eyes. "Sorry, guys! Hate to intrude, but I left my-"   
"Dress robes." He heard one of them finish for him, handing him the bag. "Cheers, I'm off. Fred, we have about five minutes!" He shouted over his shoulder, running back to his dormitory. "Please tell me you did not just run to my brothers' room wearing only a towel." Ron sighed, sounding amused and disappointed. Harry shot him a look as he pulled underwear on, still wearing his towel. "Yes, I did. I've got five minutes to be down their with Fred."

Somehow, both Harry and Fred were fully dressed, looking extremely smart, and were down in the Entrance Hall a minute before the opening dance. Harry looked Fred up and down, Fred did the same to Harry. The black and red of Fred’s suit clashed brilliantly with his flaming hair, his sharp jawline enhanced by the contrast of colours. His freckles skin seemed to glow like a halo around him, the suit framing his toned muscles and slim frame. He smelled like honeysuckle and cologne, the mix surprisingly wonderful and relaxing. Fred Weasley looked outstanding. "You look amazing." They said in unison. Both boys turned slightly pink at the cheeks. When they arrived with the other Champions, McGonagall sighed. She did not look impressed. "Ah finally, Mr Potter. Where is your date? Mr Weasley, you may proceed into the Great Hall." Professor McGonagall said. "Erm, Professor, Fred is my date." Harry said to the floor. Fred grinned and nodded, nudging Harry. Harry looked up and nearly burst into a fit of laughter. McGonagall looked as though both Fred and George had got full marks on all their OWLs. "Well, erm, in which case, you two are at the front, as Mr Potter is, by far, the youngest Champion. You both missed the main briefing, but to sum it all up: smile, dance properly, and..." she gave Fred a pointed look. "... no pulling any stunts. You dance as you have been taught." Harry and Fred both knew she was pretending not to know they were partners, and she was doing an incredibly good job at it. Cedric was gawping at them in utter shock, Cho looking equally stunned in pearly blue robes next to him. Fleur seemed to be whispering to herself in rapid French. Hermione was stood next to... VIKTOR KRUM. Harry gawped at her, glancing at Viktor. She only grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. Viktor, whose face had shown a slight glimmer of surprise at finding out Harry was with Fred, was stood unsmiling with and arm around Hermione’s shoulders. Once all the Champions were with their partners and lined up in age order, ready to enter the Great Hall, Fred nudged him. "Ready to scare the pants off everyone with our amazing dancing skills?" He said, sounding slightly anxious. Harry chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I guess." He said. A few seconds later, the double doors leading to the Great Hall opened, revealing the masses of glittering silver and blue decorations. "It's go time." He heard Fred mutter as they entered the Hall. 

There were a few gasps from people who clearly hadn't believed the rumours about Harry and Fred. Snape looked ready to kill the pair, Dumbledore looked surprised for a second before smiling fondly, Moody looked as Dumbledore had done when they had first entered the Hall, and Hagrid looked close to tears. Harry heard George let out a whoop as soon as they entered the Hall, and he grinned. He looked up at Fred to see the redhead was also grinning. They positioned themselves, Fred placing one hand on Harry's waist and held his hand with the other. Harry felt tingles where Fred had touched, but thought nothing of it. As the music started, they began to dance.


	4. The Yule Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time for the Yule Ball, and Harry and Fred couldn’t be more excited

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I’ve been MIA, I’ve been away for a couple of weeks and couldn’t update! Anyways, this chapter was the first one that I wrote for this story, this where the whole thing sprung to mind and came from, so it has been edited multiple times. Hope you enjoy!!

They were slow dancing in silence. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the soft, quiet, end of dance music and the low murmur of hushed conversation. Harry had to admit, Fred was doing a great job at convincing the small crowd of people that was gathered round, most dancing, some watching, others merely sitting and talking. Fred wasn't grinning, laughing or waving like he was when the upbeat music was playing. Instead, he was wearing a serious, almost loving expression. One of Fred's arms were wrapped around Harry's waist, with his hand in the small of his back. Fred's other hand had interlocked fingers with Harry's, and was now at the pair's side. Harry, who was considerably shorter than Fred, was resting his head against Fred's broad chest with his eyes closed. Harry could swear he could hear and feel Fred's heart beating, rather rapidly. As the dance was coming to a close, half the students, including George, Ron and Hermione had stopped behind to watch the remaining dancers, particularly Fred and Harry. Most of the staff, including Snape and Moody, had also been observing the two as they slowly danced around the glittering, pearly white dance floor. Harry had stayed with Fred throughout the night. He found he had a lot of fun with the redhead, and people had practically followed them everywhere, so there was no time to break off. Harry, however, found that he didn't mind. He enjoyed learning more about the twins, and getting to see the rare version of Fred; raw, serious and a little loving. All thought of Cho and the Tournament was gone from his mind. The look in Fred’s eyes took him in, stole him, held his attention. He admired every inch of Fred’s body, the way he glided around the dance floor, taking Harry around with him, the way his forehead shined with a him layer of sweat. Everything about Fred shone, like he had a glowing light surrounding him. Harry had only just noticed the sharp jawline, the visibility cheekbones, the spotless skin. He was beautiful. 

Fred gently touched Harry's chin, waking him from his reverie. He lightly tilted Harry's head up so that the younger teen was looking up at him. Fred smiled softly down at him. He shifted a little closer, so his nose was barely three inches away from Harry's. Both were aware that everyone that wasn't dancing was now watching them, but neither cared. They only had the eyes and attention for each other. Harry's heart felt like it was bursting out of his chest, beating powerfully against his rib cage. He suddenly wished that he and Fred were alone. No. This is all pretend. It's not serious. He thought, but he didn't move, partly because he wished this wasn't pretend, partly because he was too busy admiring Fred, and partly because he wanted to fool the crowd and pulling away wouldn't do so. Fred and Harry were so lost in the moment, merely enjoying each other's company, that the world around them was forgotten. It was just Harry and Fred, Fred and Harry. Fred let go of Harry's chin, and Harry moved the hand that was rested on Fred's muscular back up to the older boy's hair. They were now so close that Harry could feel Fred's warm breath on his chin. Fred moved his own hand into Harry's hair, and placed the other one on his shoulder. They stayed that way for a few seconds, staring into each other's eyes. Harry only just realised then that Fred had sapphire blue eyes, the deepest blue Harry had ever seen. They reminded him of the ocean, and it sent peace rushing through his body, slowing down his thundering heart. Harry's face was so close to Fred's, they were sharing air. Fred ran his hand once again through the raven hair, then Harry felt soft lips brushing against his own. They just lightly grazed over them, but it sent tingles like electric coursing through his body, nearly making him shudder. Harry's breath uncontrollably hitched slightly, and he heard Fred's do the same. There were a few more seconds where they merely looked at and held onto one another then, to Harry's surprise, Fred lightly pressed his lips to Harry's again, albeit hesitantly. A second or so later, when Harry didn't try and push him away, Fred pressed a little harder and Harry responded. There was a round of applause and a scream of "Yes! They finally did it!" From George that they barely heard, but George's shout carried over everyone else. Fred broke the kiss gradually and gave a breathy laugh as he pulled Harry so close that it made the butterflies in Harry's stomach go wild. "I'll take that as a yes to the question 'will you go out with me?' then?" Fred smiled down at Harry, who snickered slightly as he felt his face turn slightly pink. "You'd better." Was all he managed to hoarsely croak out. Fred's face then instantly warped into an expression Harry recognised as 'I've just remembered something important'. "Hold on a sec" he whispered to Harry as the crowd, once again, went silent. Fred spun Harry around so that the both of them were facing George, who was stood with Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor Chaser on the House Quidditch team, and Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House. "Do we have your blessing, dear brother of mine?" Fred asked his identical twin. Harry noticed that Fred’s voice shook slightly when he spoke, despite he fact he was grinning. George chuckled, and Harry could have sworn he saw a tear slowly make its way down his cheek. "Can't exactly say no, now that you've just kissed in front of half the bloody school, now, can I?" He said, also grinning, although his voice, like Fred's, shook, and his bottom lip wobbled slightly as he smiled at Harry and Fred. Harry felt his own eyes fill up, threatening to overflow, but he quickly swallowed the painful lump that was rapidly growing in his throat. He looked round at Ron and Hermione. Ron was grinning from ear to ear. As he caught Harry's eye, he gave him a thumbs up and mouthed. "It's ok!" At him. Hermione was openly crying, and she was smiling broadly at Harry, who grinned back at her. Professor McGonagall was also smiling, tears glistening on her cheeks, Snape was scowling, the usual look of loathing he reserved for Harry plastered on his face, Moody's face was unreadable, but he looked neutral, and Dumbledore had tears sparkling in his piercing eyes. When he caught Harry's eye, he smiled fondly at him, like a father looking at his new born child for the first time. Harry heard jeers from the Slytherins, but ignored them. He was too happy to put up with Malfoy and his cronies tonight. 

Harry looked up at Fred, only to see that fat tears were cascading shamelessly down his face as he smiled at his twin, who was also crying silently. Fred smiled down at Harry. "It's been a great night." He said, as he pulled Harry once again into a hug. Harry nodded, his head turned to the side, pressed against Fred's chest. "Yes it has." He said. Harry closed his eyes, breathing in Fred's scent. Technically, the dance ended five minutes ago, but neither Fred nor Harry wanted to leave. They just held each other, rocking side to side on their feet. There was no music playing, but none of them registered that. All thought of the Tournament, homework, the egg, Cho, all of it, had disappeared from their minds, they only thought of each other. "I hate to be the one that breaks you two up, but the dance ended twenty minutes ago. You have to go back to the dormitory." Professor McGonagall said, placing a hand on Fred's shoulder. Harry and Fred broke apart, looking at their Head of House. "Before we do, can we nip up to the owlery, Professor? I've got a, uh, a letter to send." Harry looked questioningly up at him, but McGonagall nodded after a moment of thought. "You may, Mr Weasley, but straight back to your dormitory afterwards." Fred nodded and looked down at Harry. "Guess we better go tell mum." Harry nodded in understanding, and the boyfriends left the Great Hall, hand in hand. 

The owlery was one of the tallest towers at Hogwarts. Fred was leaning on one of the window sills, writing on a piece of parchment with his tongue between his teeth. "There. Finished." He said, slamming the quill down and handing the complete letter to Harry, who read it before signing. 

Dear Mum and Dad,  
As you know, the Yule Ball was tonight. George went with Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor Quidditch Chaser whose been in the team nearly as long as we have, and I, well, I went with Harry Potter. I don't know if George told you but yeah I did. It was originally going to be for a laugh, because Harry can't dance to save his life and he had no one to go with, so he needed someone who wouldn't mind making a fool of themselves. I don't know really, one thing just lead to another and next thing I know were kissing. Yeah. Kissing. Me. Kissing Harry Potter. I'm really really sorry. I know you wanted me to get a wife and have kids some day, but Harry's different. He's ok with it, turns out he's, well, you know, as well. Me and Harry are together now, I really hope you don't mind. I'm sending you this now because I've got a feeling it's going to be front page Daily Prophet tomorrow. Again, I'm so sorry I didn't live up to your expectations, relationship wise, but I hope you accept us, I'm still your Forge after all!

Love, Fred (the better looking twin)

Once he'd read it through, Harry looked up a Fred. The Weasley has his hands resting on the window sill, shoulders hunched and head bowed. As Harry watched, he took a deep breath and sniffed. "Fred... you ok?" Harry asked. Fred nodded. "Yeah. That's just the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and I've seen you fight a dragon." He said, his voice thick with emotion, so he sounded like he had a bad head cold. Harry nodded, once again swallowing the lump in his throat. "Yeah. I'm not gonna tell the Dursleys. They don't care about me anyway. It'll just give them one more thing for them to pick on me for." He chuckled, and Fred snickered slightly. "Mind if I add a bit of my own onto the end?" Harry asked, holding up the letter. "Go for it." Fred said. Harry took the quill and ink from Fred, muttering a thanks, and scratched onto the parchment: 

Hi, Mr and Mrs Weasley, it's Harry. I just want you to know that I like Fred. A lot. And I'm guessing Fred also likes me. I don't plan on hurting Fred, in fact, I plan on spending the rest of my life with him. It feels right between us, not just like some silly schoolboy relationship. This feels real, true in a way. If it's not ok with you, and we don't have your blessing, then I'll date him anyway, because he means so much to me. Your opinion on us counts, of course, and we will listen and take into account what you say, but I will always be with Fred. I really do like him. 

Harry

Fred read through the small paragraph and laughed breathily. "Yeah. Sounds ok. Mum won't cry too much." He joked. Harry grabbed an envelope off the shelf and wrote Mum and Dad on the front, then handed it to Fred. Fred inserted the letter and went to select one of the school's owls to use. "Use Hedwig." Harry said. "She'll be faster, and she knows where she's going." Fred nodded, then called Hedwig down. The Snowy Owl, however, didn't move. "It's ok, Hedwig, It's only Fred. I need you to send a letter for us." With Harry's confirmation, Hedwig fluttered down. Instead of landing on Fred's outstretched arm, however, she landed firmly on Harry's shoulder. "She'll take some getting used to you." Harry grinned. Fred tied the letter to Hedwig's leg, then Harry sent her out the window. Fred and Harry watched her fly away until she was a mere speck in the black sky, before turning and heading out of the owlery, back to Gryffindor Tower. 

"Took you long enough! Where the hell have you been?" Was the first thing they heard from Ron as they entered the Common Room. Ron, George, Hermione and Angelina came up to them, all smiling. "Nipped up to the owlery. Me and Harry are most likely gonna be front page in the Daily Prophet tomorrow, so we sent a letter to mum to tell her." He said, with a slight grimace over the words 'front page Daily Prophet'. Harry nodded as the four people standing in front of them grinned. "You two are honestly adorable. You're so cute together it's unreal." Hermione said, tears once again filling her brown eyes. "Yeah, you should have seen yourselves. Bloody amazing." Was what they got from Ron. Harry yawned and Fred hoisted him up onto his shoulders. "Whoa! Fred! No! Down! Now! Fred Weasley, PUT ME DOWN!" Harry yelled, although he was smiling. Fred, however, just laughed, and Harry shut up as he took in the beautiful sound. "We are going to bed. Yes, we." He added sternly, as Harry groaned childishly. The four boys, Fred, George, Ron and Harry (who was still on Fred's shoulders) bade goodbye to Hermione and Angelina as they all headed up to their respective dorms. As Harry made to climb off of Fred's shoulders, however, Fred got a firmer grip on his legs. "Nah-ah, Harrykins. You're with the big boys tonight." He said, as he lead Harry towards his own dormitory. Harry, thoroughly confused, said goodnight to an equally confused looking Ron as Fred brought him into the Sixth Year boys' dormitory. Surprisingly, it was still clean, bar the dress robes that were now scattered around the place. Lee Jordan was sat on his bed, wide awake, clearly awaiting the twins' return. The other Sixth Year that shared the dorm was sound asleep. Harry didn't recognise him. "So, how was it?" Lee said with a smirk. Fred put Harry down, much to the younger boy's relief, then immediately spun him around and kissed him full on the lips. When Fred pulled away, Harry stood in the same place Fred had left him. Lee gasped as Fred spoke. "That's how it went. Harry's staying with me tonight." Lee grinned. 

Fred's bed had magically stretched into a King-Size bed, with a pair of Harry-size pyjamas at the end of it. Fred and Harry both changed, although Fred leant Harry some of his own pyjamas, as the ones that were Harry's size were an unpleasant shade of red. Harry had to roll up the sleeves on his shirt three times to access his hands, and the trouser legs had to be rolled up five times in order for him to be able to walk without falling, which the twins and Lee found highly amusing. All four of them nestled into their beds, Fred's arm draped over Harry, with Harry's head tucked comfortably into Fred's chest. Harry was warm, comfortable and safe. That night was the best night's sleep he had had in a long time. There were no dreams of Voldemort, no worries about the Tournament, it was just him and Fred. With that in mind, Harry slipped away into a deep sleep, once again hearing the twins talking quietly as he did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews welcome :)  
> Wattpad: ThatDudeThing


	5. The Daily Prophet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Christmas Day, and there’s a lot in store for a certain Weasley twin...

"GET UP, POTTER, IT'S CHRISTMAS!!" Next second, Harry felt something large and heavy land on top of his legs, followed by a second something of identical measurements. "OW! FRED, GEORGE, GERROFF ME!" The twins laughed and started jumping on the bed, it was still King-Sized, so there was more than enough room. "GET UP HARRY, IT'S CHRISTMAS!" They shouted. Harry could hear Lee Jordan and the other Sixth-Year boy howling with laughter as Harry struggled with Fred and George. Reaching over to the bedside table, Harry grabbed his glasses and rammed them into his face, then grabbed his wand and aimed it at the twins. "Petrificus Totalus! Petrificus Totalus!" He yelled, shooting the spell at each of the twins, both of whom fell like boards off the bed, still grinning. Harry stood over them and grinned down at them. "Gits. Jump on me again, and you'll get worse than that. Remember, I fought a dragon. Remobulus." The twins stood up and brushed themselves off, grinning. "Glad you're awake." George said. Lee threw a present at Fred's head. "Ow! What was that for?" Fred said, rubbing his head. Next, George got on thrown at his nose. "Ow! Merlin, Lee!" Lee grinned at them. "Merry Christmas, boys. Now, open up." Still chortling, the two Weasleys and Harry sat down on their respective beds. Although... "George, why are you sat on Fred's bed?" Harry asked, looking at the twin sat next to him. "Bugger, you really can tell us apart, can't you?" He said, frowning. He and Fred swapped as Harry popped a piece of mint chewing gum in his mouth. He watched as Fred, Lee and George opened their presents, and couldn't help but notice that Fred's pile was slightly larger than George's. Fred was halfway through his presents when he saw Harry just sat watching. "You gonna open your presents, then, or what?" He said, gesturing towards the right hand side of the pile. Harry gasped slightly. It was the most presents he'd ever received in his life. "They're mine? All of those?" Fred frowned slightly at Harry's amazement. "There’s only six. Chill." He said, then grinned. Harry picked the first one up and read the label aloud. "Harry, thought I'd get you something special this year, Moony." 

Fred and George choked on air. "What did you just say?" George spluttered as Fred mouthed wordlessly. Everyone was now looking at Harry. "What? It says 'Harry, thought I'd get you something special this year, Moony.' What's the deal?" Fred looked horrified, yet he was also grinning. "Did you say Moony? As in Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" At the mention of 'Moony', Lee gasped and looked at Harry in awe. "You got a present from a Marauder? Wow." He said, his voice suddenly whispy. Harry grinned. "Yeah. You don't know who the Marauders are?" He said, surprised at the fact that the twins spent a whole year with Lupin, yet didn't know he was Moony. "No, we don't. Bloody hell, so who are they?" Fred asked, looking hopeful. Harry gave a mock look of thought. "The thing is, I don't know if I should tell you." He said, in pretend thought. Fred, George and Lee groaned. "Pleeeeeeease, Harry, we'll do anything!" The twins said in unison. Harry grinned. "Anything?" He asked. The twins nodded. After a short silence, Fred grabbed hold of the front of Harry shirt, then pulled him up slightly and kissed him. Fred grabbed the back of Harry's head and deepened the kiss. George cleared his throat, and Fred and Harry broke apart, both grinning. "I guess I'll make do with that. Ok. Well, you spent an entire year in the company of Moony." At this, the twins exchanged a look of horror and amazement. "Really?" They said in unison. Harry nodded. "Who?" They demanded. Harry smiled at them. "Remus Lupin." The twin's gasped, and Fred clapped a hand on his forehead. "Of course! He's a werewolf, and his boggart is a crystal ball thingy! The moon! Bloody hell, how did we not figure that out?" George groaned. "Seriously! We spent an entire year with one of our idols, yet we didn't even know who he was!" "Always knew there was something him." Fred agreed. Harry laughed. "Yeah, well, the next three will be more surprising." Fred and George looked at him eagerly, Lee Jordan resumed his unwrapping, although he was still listening, and the other Sixth Year was nowhere to be seen. "Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew." He spat the name like venom. Both the twins and Lee gasped. "You mean..."  
"The guy that..."   
"Sirius Black blew up?" The twins said. Harry gave them a look. "I'll tell you about that later but, I guess, yeah." The twins nodded, and Lee looked confused. "Speaking of Sirius Black, he's Padfoot." The twin's grimaced. "Again, I'll tell you about him later. Prongs, however, is... well... Prongs is James Potter." At this, the twins, once again, choked on air. This time, Fred was the first to recover. "Prongs is your Dad?" He gasped.   
“You're a Prongslet?" George equally gasped. Harry grinned. "Yep. Dad and Sirius were like brothers at Hogwarts. Remus and Peter were also their best friends." Fred and George continued to splutter as Harry opened his present from Lupin. It was three books. He took took the top one and opened it to the front page. "Whoa." Fred leaned over his shoulder to look at the book. "What? Whoa." He said. George came over to look as well. "What are you two gawping- whoa." The three boys read the sentence on the front page of the book. 

This journal belongs to James Potter (Prongs) only! No snooping! (That includes you, Sirius)

After that, all three boys snickered as they read the next sentence in a familiar scrawly handwriting

Did you really need to add a curse that ONLY ATTACKS ME?!

Harry laughed. "That second one was Sirius. I recognise his handwriting." Opening the next two books, he saw one was Lupin's and one was Sirius'. "Why'd he send you Black's?" George asked him. Harry shot both twins a look that said 'tell you later' as he knew Lee was listening hard. 

The next four presents were... impressive to say the least. Hermione got him a book about Quidditch manoeuvres, players, tactics etc, Ron got him a few refills for his Broomstick Servicing Kit and a load of chocolate frogs, Hagrid gave him baked Rock Cakes and a tin of Wand Cleaner, Sirius gave him a scrapbook he and his Dad made while at Hogwarts, containing pictures of the Marauders and descriptions of pranks they pulled (Fred and George found these exceptionally interesting, so Harry let them read it). When it came down to Fred and George's gift, he eyed to two suspiciously. "Don't look at us like that! We had to do loads of chores and we still both had to chip in for that, it was bloody expensive!" Fred said. It was a tiny rectangular box. Harry opened it, and inside was a necklace. He picked it up. There was a sideways oval that read in curly writing The Originals. Around the oval, there were charms scattered so they'd be visible when Harry wore it. There were three Quaffles, two Beater's bats, a Keeper's hat, and a Snitch. When Harry looked closer, each charm had a name carved into it in the same minute, curly writing. The Quaffles had the names. Angelina, Katie and Alicia carved into them, the Beater's bats had the names Fred and George in them, the Keeper's hat read Oliver, and the Snitch said Harry. "The original Quidditch team from your first year." Fred said. "Figured you'd like- oof!" Both twins exclaimed as Harry engulfed them both in a bear hug, so hard their heads banged together. "Ow! Harry, Merlin, you're worse than Mum!" George yelled. Lee howled with laughter as the twins fought with Harry. However, they gave up after about thirty seconds. "Thank you. Thank you both." Harry whispered to them. He felt both twins smile against his shoulder. "You're welcome, Harrykins." They said in unison. Harry released them and moved on to his last present. "It's from your mum!" He told the twins. They instantly perked up. Harry unwrapped it to find a Weasley sweater with a Horntail wove on the front, a large supply of home made fudge and other home bakes. "Wow. We never get home bakes.” Fred said as Harry grinned, tucking into a slab of fudge. "Take some of you want, I get some every year." Safe to say, half his supply was gone before the trio and Lee went down to breakfast. 

The second they entered the Great Hall, whispers followed them again. "Oh god. I think you were right, Fred." Harry said. "We were front page Daily Prophet.” Ignoring the whispers, they sat down at the Gryffindor table and helped themselves to a full English. Seconds later, Hermione slammed a copy of the newspaper on the table. Fred jumped violently, sending tomatoes flying over his shoulder and hitting a passing Hufflepuff Second Year. George's elbow dug harshly into Harry's side ("George, seriously?"). Being used to Hermione’s outbursts, however, Harry barely flinched. "Honestly." Huffed Hermione. "Have you seen this? They've emphasised everything!" Fred and Harry paled and George laid a hand comfortingly on Harry's shoulder. Just then, Ron sat down and shot the twins and Harry an apologetic look. "Listen to this. 'The latest heartthrob of Harry Potter appears to be none other than Fred Weasley... then it goes on to describe Fred blah de blah de blah and then 'however, their display at Great Hall suggests ultimate intimacy between the pair. Just last night, at the Yule Ball, the Triwizard Champion was spotting passionately kissing Weasley on the dance floor..." Fred, Harry and George were shaking with anger. "Passionately kissing? Passionately kissing?! Bloody hell!" Fred said. Hermione frowned at him. "It gets worse, listen. 'It's no secret that Fred Weasley has a twin brother, George Weasley... then it goes on to describe how identical you are... '... will the troublesome twins both capture perfect Potter, or will Harry break both their hearts? Rumours have it that the twins share everything, so why not share Harry? Word also has it, that Fred Weasley is only with Harry for his money, it's no secret the Weasleys are short on finances, where Potter has a small fortune, inherited from his parents who died... yeah yeah there's that and then, well, you get the picture. They've totally shambled you both! It's unbelievable!" Fred and George were now both red in the face. "Rumours... that'll be the Slytherins." George said, venom casing his every word. "So... now everyone thinks..." Fred said, taking deep breaths with every part. "... that I'm dating Harry... for his damn MONEY?!" He shouted, slamming his fist on the table and knocking over a glass of pumpkin juice. Harry grabbed Fred's right hand, which was curled into a tight fist. Hardy tried to keep his voice steady, but it was extremely difficult with sheer fury coursing through his veins. "Fred... lets go. Get out of here. We'll go back to your dormitory, George too, and we’ll cool off." Fred and George nodded stiffly. Harry interlocked fingers with Fred's right hand, and guided him off of the table. George walked on the other side of Harry. They got about halfway down the Great Hall when Draco Malfoy spoke up. "Hey, Weasley! Got any money off Potter yet?" He shouted. The rest of the Slytherins jeered. "What about you, George Weasley? Got your hands all over precious Potter yet?"   
"Boys, no!" Hermione yelled, but it was too late. Fred, George and Harry has gone charging at the Slytherins, each shouting different hexes.   
"Furnunculus!"  
"Everte Stratum!"  
"Tallantellegra!"  
Malfoy, along with Pansy Parkinson and Gregory Goyle, were blown off the benches, each twitching and jerking horribly. Malfoy's legs were flying in all directions, his ears flapping like wings, Pansy Parkinson was jerking like she was having a seizure, and Goyle was twitching like he was in pain. The Gryffindor table exploded with laughter, the Ravenclaws laughed a little quieter, and the Hufflepuffs attempted to hide it. The Beauxbatons students were also trying to hide their laughter, but the Slytherins and Durmstrang looked furious, the Slytherins more so. "Weasley! Weasley! Potter!" Professor McGonagall came striding up to them. "My office! Now!" The three Gryffindors exploded. "Did you hear what they said?!"  
"They provoked us!"  
"Are you deaf, or just stupid?"  
"So you're gonna punish us for something they did?"  
"This is ridiculous!"  
"SILENCE!" McGonagall shouted, waving her wand, and instantly silencing the twins and Harry. "Silence." She said. The whole school, bar three hexed Slytherins, were now watching the shenanigan that was unfolding. "My office. Now. Don't! Say a word. Just go, before you land yourselves in more trouble." She said, her mouth in almost a straight line. Angrily, Fred, George and Harry stomped up the stairs to her office, not speaking a word to each other. The only interaction was Fred grabbing Harry's hand, and they comforted each other the whole way. 

Once they arrived, they stood outside, waiting for McGonagall, who was transporting the Slytherins to the hospital wing. "You ok, Freddie?" George asked his brother. Fred nodded stiffly. "Yeah. I will be." He said, although his voice sounded forced. "What about you, Harry? It was totally unfair." Harry also nodded, giving the same, forced reply as Fred. They waited for about ten minutes without exchanging anymore words. By the time McGonagall had arrived, George was pretty much calm, and Fred and Harry were still squeezing each other's hands, although they were slightly calmer than before. "In. Now." She held the door open for them as they shuffled inside. Once they were all in, she shut the door and conjured up three wooden, straight-backed chairs. "Sit." She said, seating herself on the other side of her desk. Harry and the twins slumped down into chairs, placing their arms on the wooden arm rests. Harry immediately put his hand on top of Fred's and squeezed it. Fred grabbed hold of it and squeezed back. "Right." McGonagall breathed. "Right." Harry couldn't hold back, his anger was back up to boiling point. "Right what?" He growled. McGonagall looked at him, temporarily surprised. "Watch your tone Mr. Potter! Safe to say, you are all in detention every day for the next week. Do not argue!" She added, as all three of them opened their mouths to argue. They all slumped back in their chairs. "You are all in detention, My office, six o'clock every evening. The two Mr Weasleys, I expected better of you. 50 points taken from each of you." She couldn't hold them off this time. Harry tried to restrain them, but it was a fruitless fight, the twins' combined strength was too much from him. They instantly charged at McGonagall, banging their fists in her desk and shouting at her. "No way!"  
"50 points? That's not fair!"  
"That's a hundred points, you old bat!" McGonagall silenced them yet again. "Rest assured, I will never be spoken to like that! 20 more points from each of you! Now, sit down this instant!" Both twins sat. Harry slipped his arm round Fred's shoulder, and held onto the side of his head. Fred leant over, and rested his forehead on Harry's shoulder. "Mr Potter, 50 points will also be taken from you, I don't expect you to lash out like that ever again." Both twins tensed at this, but Harry managed to hold it off for the sake of them. Fred grabbed hold of the front of Harry's robes and held them in a tight fist. Harry rubbed circles on his back. "The Slytherins will also be punished, I assure you. Now, Mr Potter, I suggest you escort these two back to their dormitory and cool them off. Away you go now." She said, magically opening the door. Hardy wrapped both his arms around Fred and, with the help of George, lead him back upstairs and into the Sixth Year dormitory.

The dormitory was, thankfully, deserted. Fred's bed was still King-Size, so Harry and George sat cross legged on that. Fred, however, immediately laid down and put his head in Harry's lap, curling up into a little ball and crossing his arms over his chest. Harry soothingly played with his hair, while Fred took deep breaths to try and calm himself. George, being the calmest of the three, spoke first. "Are you two ok? Like, seriously, all jokes aside, are you ok? What Malfoy and the Daily Prophet said about you was bang out of order." Harry nodded, but Fred gave no response. "Yeah. It'll all blow over eventually, once people get used to us." George nodded. "Yeah. It'll take some getting used to. Especially considering the fact that we're identical twins and all that, plus you're a Triwizard Champion, and we're the Weasley twins. The Daily Prophet has definitely put a dent in our reputation." He said with a grimace. Harry felt a jolt of guilt shoot through him, but he ignored it. It wasn’t his fault, after all, that he liked Fred. Nor was it his fault that Fred liked him. It was true, what he had said to Mrs Weasley, he really did want to spend the rest of his life with Fred. Speaking of Mrs Weasley... "We haven't had a reply from your mum yet." Harry said. George gave him a questioning look. "Fred had a hunch that we would be front page Daily Prophet today, so we sent your mum a letter last night, explaining the shenanigans before she caught them from the newspaper." George nodded and snickered slightly. "Yeah, That was probably the best thing to do. I bet the reply'll come in tomorrow, you know what Errol's like." Harry laughed slightly. "Yeah. Probably got lost or something." Harry then realised he hadn't told the twins about Sirius. Deciding he'd do it later, when they were all fully calm, he was left to think deeply about the next task, his egg, and how to stop that damn screeching. There was a long silence, but George broke it before it became too long. Harry, however, was too lost in thought to notice any change. "Fred, are you ok?" Was the first thing he heard from George. Harry looked down at Fred. His breathing was getting deeper and louder. "Yeah." He breathed. Harry and George exchanged a confused look. "Are you sure, mate? You look a bit pale." Fred suddenly shot up and clutched his chest, breathing like a sick boy. "Fred, what's happening?" Harry asked. He noticed that George had also gone pale. "Can't... breathe." Fred gasped. His voice was weak and hoarse. George leapt off of the bed and cast a weightless charm on Fred. After doing so, he picked his twin up and looked over at Harry. "We need to get him to the Hospital wing." With that, the two of them rushed out of the room and out of the Common Room, ignoring the stares, shouts and questions, mainly from Ron and Ginny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, folks! Updated a bit quicker this time, I’ve got about 11 chapters up on Wattpad already XD anyways, hope you’re enjoyijg the story, I really love writing it. Comments and Kudos always welcome ^^


	6. Chapter 6

"He'll be ok. He had quite the panic attack just there. I'll keep him in here for the rest of the day, but he can leave just before dinner." Harry and George thanked Madam Pomfrey and walked over to Fred's bed. Fred was sound asleep, he looked so peaceful and calm. Harry took Fred's left hand in both of his, and George sat on Fred right, stroking stray bits of hair out of his face, which was still slightly pink and damp with sweat. Noticing this, Harry took the flannel that was soaking in cold water, wrung it out a little, and proceed to dab at Fred's face. "I'm glad you're ok, Freddie." George croaked. "Scared me half to death, that did. Never, ever do that again. Please." The 'Please' was barely above a whisper, and George rested his head on Fred's shoulder as he said it. Harry placed the flannel back inside the bowl of water, dried his hands then dried Fred's face. After that was done, he grabbed Fred's hand again. "You ok, George?" He asked. George looked up, his cheeks slightly wet. "Yeah. Just never seen him do that before." Harry nodded. "Me neither." George continued to talk, surprising Harry, as he was practically opening up to a fourteen year old boy. "We've seen each other cry, obviously. Besides at the Yule Ball, I think the last time someone else other than each other saw us cry was when we were 6, and Fred broke his wrist. I accidentally hit him with one of the Beater's bats we nicked from a woman doing her school shopping when we were in Diagon Alley and knocked him off of his broom. Fred was crying because his wrist hurt, I was crying because I could feel some of Fred's pain, Percy was in his room, probably crying, Ron was crying because he was scared for Fred and Ginny was crying because why not? Mum was down the hill with our Aunt, and Dad was at work, leaving 13 year old Bill and 11 year old Charlie to calm everyone down. It was nothing short of a nightmare." He chuckled. "We've both had our fair share of nightmares, usually I get the worse ones, though. Thankfully, with us being twins, if an emotion is extreme enough, the other can feel it, too. So, when I'm having a nightmare and I'm feeling nothing but sheer terror, it wakes Fred up, then he wakes me up. Luckily, he now knows to be ready to restrain me, and I do the same for Fred when needed. It doesn't happen very often, but it happens." Harry was shocked at the un-Georgelike way George was speaking. It was very uncharacteristic of the Weasley twin but, then again, they're really good friends, and Harry is dating Fred. Still, Harry had never heard George explain a weakness so obviously and with so much detail. "How you getting on with your egg?" George asked. Harry's stomach dropped through the floor. He hadn't even opened the egg since the night after the First Task. "Erm... I haven't really thought about it, to be honest." He said. "Been a bit, erm, preoccupied." George chuckled.   
"It's Christmas, you deserve a break. Speaking of Christmas, if Madam Pomfrey sticks to her bargain, Fred will be out of here before Christmas roast." Harry and George laughed a little. A few seconds later, however, something feathery and hard his the side of Harry's head. "Ow! What the-?" He looked down at the thing. "Errol? Oh god, this'll be your Mum." He told George. Both of them instantly paled. "What a great time to wake up." Fred's voice came weakly from the bed.   
"Oh, you're awake. Good. I was going to wait for you to wake up before I opened it, glad I didn't have to wait." Harry said. The twins chuckled. "You ok, Freddie?" George asked, a bit of colour returning to his face. "Yeah." Was Fred's reply. George nudged him slightly. "Me, too." Both twins gave a breathy laugh and smiled at each other. Then, Fred turned to Harry. "So, Harrykins, what does the letter say?" Harry and Fred both paled a little more as Harry opened it and read aloud. 

"'Fred and Harry (and George if you're there),

This is wonderful news!'"  
Harry and Fred both gave a sigh of relief, and George laughed out loud. Harry grabbed Fred's hand again as he continued. 

"'At first, we thought it was some sort of joke, but when I saw the piece in the Daily Prophet (you were right about that, front page!), I saw the picture of you two dancing. It was a great sight. You fit...'"   
"Hang on. What picture? George, be a good twin, and grab us that Daily Prophet." George went over to the bed opposite Fred's and gave him the newspaper. Sure enough, on the front page, there was a large picture of Harry and Fred dancing at the Ball. Using his wand, Fred cut out the picture and made it firmer than the flimsy newspaper material. "That..." he said. "Is definitely going in a frame!" He and Fred laughed, and George smiled fondly. "What does the rest of letter say Harry?" He said. Harry looked back at the letter, and read with a broad grin on his face.  
"'You fit perfectly together! Just watching you dance... it was beautiful! We're so happy for you both! We've already owled Charlie and Bill, so prepare for letters from them. Harry, I don't know if you told your family yet, but I'm sure they support you.

We love both of you, and we always will. George, make sure you keep Fred in check, so to speak. And, Harry, I'm really glad you are so dedicated to Fred. It means a lot to us and I'm sure it means the world to him. 

Love always,   
Mum and Dad.'"

"The Dursleys? Support me? Bah, no way!" Harry laughed. When he turned to the twins, however, they were locked in an embrace. Harry saw that Fred shoulders were shaking slightly, and George was rubbing circles on his back, whispering words in his ear. "Hey... it's ok! They're ok with it! You'll be fine, now, because they know!" Harry sat on the side edge of Fred's bed, and laid a hand on Fred's back. "Fred? What's wrong?" He asked. Fred pulled away from George, who was still grinning, and Harry saw that Fred, too, was grinning from ear to ear, and there were tears streaming down his face. "I'm just glad they accept. I thought they'd be mad, or angry. It scared me to death. I'm just happy. So happy." He said. With that, he flung his arms round Harry's neck and kissed him, Harry responded, and George picked up the newspaper, blocking them from his view. Harry's and Fred really did work together. It was the most intimate kiss they had exchanged and, by the end of it, both boys had slightly swollen lips and were gasping for air. "Bloody hell. I think you just broke a world record for the longest kiss. Jeez." George chuckled. Harry and Fred grinned. Harry got under the covers with Fred, snuggling down next to him. Breathing in his comforting scent and the feeling of Fred's warm body against his own sent Harry into a dreamy sleep, once again the twins were talking softly as he did so. This time, however, he caught something of what they were saying. "So happy for... cant believe it... bet mum cried." God, he loved Fred's voice. 

Harry awoke peacefully in the same position he had fallen asleep in. Fred and George were talking quietly, obviously trying not to wake Harry. Not opening his eyes, Harry tuned in to what they were saying. "... gonna be difficult when it comes to the Second Task. He's a Champion, for gods sake." Fred's voice vibrated his shoulder slightly. "He'll be ok, he's Harry Potter."  
"That's the thing, he's Harry Potter. Anything or anyone could be out for him. Someone had to put his name in that damn Goblet."  
"And, whoever they are, yes they have it out for Harry, but he can get through the tasks."  
"And you'll be with us, right? The whole way?"  
"The whole way, and beyond. I'll never leave you alone, Fred, you know that."  
"Yeah. Born thirteen minutes apart, die thirteen minutes apart, huh?"  
"Exactly." Both boys chuckled, and Harry decided it was time to wake up. He opened his eyes, and was surprised the see that the light had dimmed slightly since the last time he'd seen the wing. "Oh, morning, Harry! 'Bout time you woke up!" George said. Harry propped himself up on his elbow and kissed Fred. "What have I missed?" He asked. The twins chuckled slightly. "Ron and Hermione came down earlier, looking for you. They said when they didn't find you in the library, dormitory, Quidditch pitch or the Common Room, they knew you'd be here. They were rather surprised to see Fred in here, in the bed with Harry. We told them that your burn scar had been giving you a bit of bother so, yeah, sorry about that." Harry laughed.   
"It's cool, honestly, I'm surprised I've lasted longer than a week without being in here." Fred laughed then continued. "A couple of owls came in, three, really. One's from Bill, there's one from Charlie, I recognise the handwriting, and there's one I don't recognise. Fred grabbed it from the bedside table and held it up. Harry recognised the scrawly handwriting immediately. Without thinking, he said "Oh! That's from Sirius!" Fred dropped the letter hastily. "Sirius Black?" He said. Harry looked around the wing. Thankfully, it was deserted apart from the three of them. "Oh god. Right well, you see..." he then proceeded to tell the twins how Sirius was innocent, what had happened last year, that Sirius was his godfather, and about Peter Pettigrew. By the time he'd finished, the twins were wearing identical looks of shock. "Well, that explains a lot." Fred said. "Yup. Considering you got his diary, and the letter... yeah I get it now." George said. Harry laughed. "Reckon we should open them, then?" Fred nodded and tore open Bill's, reading aloud. 

"'Fred and Harry (and, most likely, George will be there as well, so you too.)

Mum just told me saying you two are in a relationship. Not going to lie to you, it came as quite a shock. I'm very happy for you both, it's great news! Harry, Mum told me how dedicated you are to Fred, so I couldn't really have wished for a better future brother in law. Fred, I'm extremely proud of you for telling Mum, that must of been quite rough on you. Whoever you get with, you're all my brothers in the end, and nothing will change that. I'll be down for the Third Task, but the goblins need me in Egypt at the moment, so I'm not allowed time off just yet. I'm lucky I got the week and a bit off for the last task after the time I had for the World Cup, had to put extra hours in and everything. Bloody gits, goblins are. 

Don't let anything get to you, boys, you're all great.   
Bill

"That couldn't have gone better." Fred said, grinning again. "Yeah. Bet he'll be saying something else when he finds out we all hexed the Slytherins, though." George said. "Mind you, Mum knows of Malfoy's reputation, she'll let us off." Fred said. They all agreed. "Right, I guess Charlie's gonna have a similar reaction!" George said, tearing open he second oldest Weasley's letter. 

"'Twins and Harry,

Blimey! Mum just told me Harry and Fred are together! That was not what I was expecting! I saw the bit in the Daily Prophet, though, as I'm still in the country. (I'm staying in Shell Cottage, you know, Muriel's old place.). Fred and Harry, I'm extremely happy for you both, and I'm proud that you told Mum. I'll bet my entire life savings that she cried. Anyways, I won’t be able to come up there for the Second and Third Tasks. I'm not allowed time off after the World Cup. Missing the Tournament wasn’t on my list of to-dos, but anything is possible- especially if my future brother in law is competing!! Sorry this letter's so short, Bill's too (he's still in Egypt, but he's coming for the Third Task). We are both quite busy at the moment. I'll see you after the Third Task then, don't let Malfoy get to you, I know he'll try.   
Charlie.'"

The three of them sat in silence for a few seconds before Harry spoke up. "Two down, one to go." He said. Fred and George exchanged a look. "What? What is it?" Then, their faces cracked into identical grins. Not he evil, mischievous ones Harry always saw, but gleeful, like they'd just won the Quidditch Cup. "You're my future brother in law." George said. "And my future husband." Fred grinned, pulling Harry in to kiss him. Fred's soft lips collided with Harry's, and Harry felt the now-familiar feeling of electric coursing through him. George picked up Charlie's letter again as Fred and Harry got more passionate. Their lips were definitely swollen when they broke apart. "Fina-blooding-ly! Harry, open your damn godfather's letter, already!" Harry did so with shaking hands. Sirius was the one he had been dreading, as the ex-convict would have found out through the Daily Prophet. Harry had completely forgotten to send him a letter. 

"'Harry and Fred (Fred, I'm pretty sure you have a twin, but I can't remember his name. But, if you do have a twin, hi twin Fred.)'" Harry, Fred and George laughed at this, taking about a minute to calm down fully before Harry continued.   
"'Harry, don't worry, Dumbledore sent me a letter. He had a feeling you'd forgotten, and didn't want me finding out through the Prophet. I'm glad I didn't, I just read the article. I almost rocked up to the Ministry and killed Rita Skeeter. Anyways, I took one look at the picture and, this sounds so soppy and I hate it, but my heart melted. You two look so happy to be together, to be with each other, it's amazing. Harry, the look in your eyes is, ironically, the same look James wore whenever he looked at Lily. You two definitely have my blessing. Fred and whoever your supposed twin is, apparently you're pranksters. I'd be more than happy to share a few tips.'" "NO WAY!" The twins shouted, making Harry jump. "Padfoot wants to share tips? With us? When?" They said in unison. "Hold on a second, let me finish." Harry said.   
"'I'd be more than happy to share a few tips. Harry, make sure you focus on the Tournament. You can't let yourself get distracted. Remember what I told you before the First Task. Twins (I think), I'm sorry, but Harry can't tell you what I said. Harry, I forbid you. Both of you (or all three of you), meet me in the Gryffindor Common Room, day after Boxing Day, at 3am. Make sure you're alone.   
Once again, I'm extremely proud and happy for Harry and Fred.   
Padfoot

"Oh, Merlin." Fred sighed, slumping against his pillows. "In two days time, we are going to be talking to Padfoot." He said. George slumped back in the wooden chair beside Fred's bed. "Jeez, this day could not have gone better."

An hour later, Fred was released from the hospital wing, so the twins and Harry made their way down to the Great Hall for Christmas lunch. A few people asked where they'd been all day, some asked if Fred was ok, some asked if Harry was ok, and the rest ignored them. Ron and Hermione came to sit opposite the trio and asked why they were all grinning. Together, they explained the four letters they'd received. Ron and Hermione gave a shocked look to Harry. Hermione said, in a little over a whisper; "you told them about Sirius?" Harry chuckled.   
"I kind of had to. I am dating Fred, after all." The five of them relaxed and lapsed into conversation about random topics Qudditch, the Tournament (that was a short topic), Fred and George's next prank, SPEW (again, a short topic) and other endless nothings. By the time they returned to the Common Room, they were full to bursting with food, and all five of them were extremely tired. Bidding goodnight to Hermione, the four boys went up the stairs to their dormitories. Once there, the twins and Harry bid goodnight to Ron before heading back to the Sixth Year dormitory. They changed into their pyjamas and settled into their respective beds. "You know, soon enough, I'll have to bring my trunk in here." Harry said. The last thing he remembered hearing before he fell asleep was the sound of Fred's glorious laugh. "Yeah, you might just have to."


	7. The Second Task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament is upon them...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter, and from George’s POV this time, how... mysterious

The Second Task was a couple of weeks away. Thirteen days, seventeen hours and twenty minutes to be exact. Harry was sat in the Fourth Year Boys' dormitory, glaring at his egg. He hadn't dared open it since the night of the First Task because, funnily enough, he didn't fancy his eardrums exploding. He didn't know what he was looking for, maybe some sort of clue on the outside of the egg as to what the screeching, wailing sound it emitted meant. However, he had been laying in his bed staring at it for over an hour, yet come up with nothing. He'd tried everything. He'd thrown it across the room, shouted at it, asked it question, he even tried Parseltongue, all to no avail. He was so immersed with staring at the egg that he didn't notice the arrival of three boys, one his age, two a couple of years older. "Hey, Harry!" Ron exclaimed. Harry leapt up in surprise and dropped his egg, clutching his chest. "Blimey, Ron! You could've just cleared your throat or something!" Ron laughed. "Sorry. Thought you were awake."  
"I was." Harry grumped as he picked his heavy, golden egg up from the floor. "How's it coming?" George asked, startling Harry. He hadn't noticed the twins come in with Ron. Harry looked over at them, dropped his egg again, and flung himself into Fred's arms. "Oof! Ok, then, we're hugging. Hi." Fred said as Harry pummelled into him. Fred wove his arms round Harry as they locked each other in a tight embrace. Harry heard Ron and George shuffling to sit down, but paid no attention. He needed Fred right now, the Task was so near, and Harry had no clue what to do about his egg. All he got was screaming and wailing, none of which made sense. He inhaled Fred's scent, and instantly relaxed. It was a mix of cologne, sweat, wind and toffee. It smelt wonderful. It smelt like Fred. He held onto Fred tighter as he relaxed, and felt Fred do the same. There was no real intimacy within the hug, it just made him feel safe and loved. Ron cleared his throat quietly and Fred and Harry broke away. "What on earth did I do to deserve that, then?" Fred said, kissing the top of Harry's head. Harry shrugged. "Dunno. Just needed it. This Tournament's stressful, so is this damn egg." He said, sitting back in his bed next to Ron and, once again, grabbing his egg from the floor. The twins sat on Ron's bed, looking at the egg. "I've heard that noise before." George said after a few minutes of silence. "What?" Harry said. "Now you mention it? Brilliant!" He said sarcastically. He was slightly frustrated with George, but the older boy didn't seem to mind. "Open it." The other three occupants of the room looked at George in shock. "What?" They said together.   
"Open it. Open the egg!" Harry inhaled deeply. Fred and Ron clapped their hands over their ears, looking frightened. Ron scurried over to sit next to Fred, away from the egg. Harry tensed, and George looked at the egg with utmost concentration. Harry opened the hatch. Once again, the screaming and wailing issued from the interior of the golden abyss. Harry tensed massively and was about to close the egg, but George signalled for him not to. Ron and Fred were shouting something, and Harry was screaming at George to hurry up, but George barely flinched. At long last, George signalled for Harry to close the egg. Once the ringing in his ears had stopped, he noticed that the buzz of noise that was coming from the Common Room before Harry opened the egg had silenced. Fred, Ron and Harry looked at George, who appeared to be thinking hard. "George?" Fred asked, giving his twin a slight shake. George waved him off as though to tell him to wait a second. Fred, however, didn't. "We better not have all just gone trough that crap for nothing!" He said, slightly angrily. George didn't reply, only narrowed his eyes slightly. "Open it again." He said.   
"No way! Not again!"  
"Are you joking?"  
"We'll all be deaf if he has to open it again!" Came the three combined replies from Ron, Harry and Fred. George looked up slightly angrily and glared at them all. "If you want me to figure out what the bloody hell that is, open the damn thing!" George half-yelled. "Brace yourselves. I'm opening it." Harry said to Ron and Fred, both of whom grabbed a pillow and crammed it over their ears. Harry tensed again, preparing for the inevitable pain, and George resumed his observing/thinking position. Harry tensed even more, inhaled, and opened the egg. Once again, the wailing, screeching sound emitted from it and Harry's entire body seemed to convulse in protest. 

The screaming went on for longer this time. By the time George waved for him to close it, Fred and Ron had screamed themselves hoarse, and Harry was shouting furiously at George. "Got it!" George said once they could all hear again. "Well, what the bloody hell is it?" Fred croaked, rubbing his head as though he had a headache. Ron did the same thing and Harry put his egg back in his trunk, still wincing. "I knew I'd heard it before. Remember old Lupin? He told me about it during a DADA lesson and showed me one time when we were in separate detentions." He said, gesturing towards him and Fred. "You gonna tell us, or what?" Ron asked desperately. George winked. "It's Mermish, little bro." Harry, Ron and Fred gawped at him. "Mermish?" Harry said, sure he'd misheard. "Yep. Mermish. Sounds horrible above water. You need to put your egg under water and listen to it there." George said, grinning. "Maybe you and Fred can take a bath later." He said with a wink. Fred whacked him around the head with a pillow. "Oi! Not that I'm complaining, but seriously?" He shouted, but he was wearing a grin identical to George's. Harry blushed but also grinned while Ron looked uncomfortable. "You two are just... wow. Please never put the image of Harry and Fred bathing together in my head again... wow." He said, making the twins and Harry laugh. Harry went into his trunk and pulled out a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Together, the four of them made their way through the box, with varying degrees of disgust on their faces. George actually had to run to the bathroom to throw up at one point. When he got back, he was white as a sheet, but grinning. "That... was disgusting." He said through a gasp of breath. Harry, Ron and Fred roared with laughter. "Where's Hermione, anyways?" Fred asked, while George continued to gag slightly.   
"The library." Harry and Ron said together.   
"You two are becoming more like us, speaking together and all that tosh." George said, making them all laugh. 

There was thirteen days, fifteen hours, fifty two minutes until the Second Task

Eight days, twenty two hours and thirty minutes before the Second Task. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George were sat eating lunch in the Great Hall. "Honestly! There's a little over a week until the Second Task, and you still haven't worked out that egg? Harry, you seriously need to get a move on." Hermione said shrilly. "We've already told you, it's Mermish! Harry just needs to take a long bath and work out what it says." George said.   
"Exactly. And the baths in the Boys' bathroom are disgusting. I wouldn't spend more than five minutes in there." Hermione huffed.   
"There has to be somewhere else you can take the egg to listen to it." She said. "I'm off to the library. There has to be something!" With that, she stood up and left the Great Hall. Just as soon as she'd left, Cedric Diggory appeared. Fred and George scowled at him, so Harry softly laid his hand on Fred's balled fist, which relaxed almost instantly. "Harry. A word?" He said.   
"Have two, bog off!" George said. Cedric ignored him. Harry looked round Ron and the twins. No-one else seemed to be listening. "No. Say it here. I'll tell these lot what you say anyway. Saves me a job." Cedric looked unsure, but told him anyway. "Er- right. I never really got to thank you for the tip off about the dragons. Use the prefect's bathroom. Take your egg with you. Just... have a long bath and... mull things over in the hot water. Password's Pine Fresh." Without another word, he walked back to the Hufflepuff table. Harry didn't even get a chance to thank him. "Fair enough. Guess I know where I'm sneaking off to tonight." He said, looking behind him at Cedric's back. "I don't believe him. It sounds like some sort of prank to buck you out of action." George said. Harry shrugged. "I can at least give it a go. If it's not a prank, my egg could use a little dip in the water." Fred and George sighed.   
"Fine. But I'm coming with you." Fred said. Harry blushed, and George snorted into his pie.   
"Do spare me the details." He said, though he was grinning. Fred laughed, but it took Harry a second to work it out. "Oh! We're not going- there's not- George!" Harry punched his arm while Fred roared with laughter. 

Eight days, twelve hours and thirty two minutes before the Second Task saw Fred and Harry stripping down in the Prefect's bathroom, leaving them in only their underwear. The pool was big enough to swim in, which they did as they waited for it to fill up properly. They splashed each other, gave themselves bubble beards (remembering fondly of Fred and George's attempt at putting their names in the goblet) and just had fun. By the time the tub had fully filled, both boys were covered in bubbles and were dripping wet. "That... was amazing." Harry said, gasping for breath and grinning. Fred laughed. "It sure was." He said, pulling Harry in to kiss him. Harry ran his hand through Fred's wet hair and wrapped his other hand round his waist, pulling Fred closer to him in the water. Fred did the same, deepening the kiss as he did so, thus making it more intimate. They were completely alone. It was just the two of them. They'd locked the door with a charm, so nobody could get in. They had the whole night to themselves, and it showed. They seemed to touch every inch of each other, as though wanting to get as much out of this time alone as possible, yet they never broke the kiss. Harry was thrilled. Electric feelings were shooting through every part of his body, everywhere that Fred touched, and then some. He loved it. He could stay here, in this moment, for the rest of his life. He'd never felt so loved... so wanted. He didn't even care about the egg at this point, he just wanted more and more of Fred... the egg. Harry reluctantly broke apart from Fred, slowing his touches as he did so. Both of them were panting, red-faced and had swollen lips. "The... egg. If we... get that sorted... we can... we have the rest of the night." He said through gasps. Fred nodded, also breathing heavily. "Yeah... yeah you're right." He panted, grinning. Harry, too, was smiling broadly. "Let's do this." Harry grabbed the egg from the side of the pool-sized bathtub and looked at Fred. "On three." Fred nodded.   
"One..."  
"Two..."  
"Three!"   
They both went under the water. Harry held the egg out in front of him, and Fred gave him a thumbs up, mouthing 'Open it'. Harry did. Surprisingly, a soft, female voice sang beautifully. It made Harry feel calm, like he could listen forever. By the look on his face, Fred felt the same way. 

'Come seek us where our voices sound  
We cannot sing above the ground  
And while you're searching ponder this...  
We've taken what you'll sorely miss...  
An hour long you'll have to look  
To recover what we took...  
But after that the prospect's black  
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back..."

Harry and Fred resurfaced, gasping for air and inhaling large gulps of it. "George wasn't wrong... it was Mermish." Harry said.   
"Blimey... didn't know... he was that smart." Fred gasped, laughing. Harry chuckled. "What did it say, again?" He asked Fred, who shrugged. "Dunno. Can't remember." He said. "Something about seeking and finding something taken, I don't know."   
"On three?" Harry suggested.   
"I guess." Fred smiled.   
"One..."  
"Two..."  
"Three!"  
It took five more ducks under the water before both of them had memerised it.   
"'Come seek us where our voices sound. We cannot sing above the ground. And while you're searching ponder this. We've taken what you'll sorely miss. An hour long you'll have to look. To recover what we took. But after that the prospect's black. Too late, it's gone, it won't come back." They chorused in unison.   
"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, while Fred grinned widely. "Now..." he said with a smirk. "We have the rest of the night to ourselves." 

At five am, the boys left the bathroom. 

Three days, twelve hours and two minutes until the Second Task, all the boys in Harry's dormitory were wide awake, as were Fred, Hermione and George. George was sat on Ron's bed, Fred was sat with his legs crossed under Harry's covers (Harry's bed had magically stretched to king-sized) and Hermione was sat in the rocking chair near Neville's bed. They were all sat in total silence, thinking. "I honestly don't know." Harry said suddenly, making Seamus and Neville jump slightly. "What is it you have to do again, Harry?" Dean asked. Harry threw his egg, which he had been holding in his lap, into his trunk. "Recover something from the black lake. I don't know what but I only have an hour to do it and it'll be guarded by Merpeople." Fred grabbed Harry's hand, which was shaking slightly. "How the hell am I supposed to breathe under water for a whole hour? I can't exactly hold my breath!" Fred pulled him into a reassuring hug and began playing with his hair. Harry readjusted himself so he was laying down with his head in Fred's lap. They, once again, lapsed into total silence. "Oh! I've got it!" Neville exclaimed excitedly, rushing round his bed and grabbing a book from his trunk. Harry sat bolt upright as Neville clambered back onto his bed, searching for a page. "Yes, I have it! You could use Gillyweed! It's a plant, funnily enough. If you eat it right before to jump into the water, you'll be able to breathe because you'll literally sprout gills and flippers!" Harry grinned. He was safe. He could just use Gillyweed, seeing as none of them, not even Hermione, knew how to cast a Bubble-head charm successfully. Fred has tried the previous night, and needed up in the hospital wing with a goldfish bowl stuck to his face. "Hang on... where do we get Gillyweed from?" Hermione said, making all the boys' faces turn sullen again, except for Neville's. "Professor Moody has some! He likes me for some reason, so I can ask him if Harry could use it for the Second Task! I'm sure he'll let me!" They sat around and talked for a little while about Gillyweed and the Second Task, but, eventually, everyone started yawning, and Neville actually dozed off and fell off his bed, promptly waking himself up. After a good chuckle, George and Hermione bid everyone else goodbye as they exited the dormitory, still talking about the Task. Fred and Harry said goodnight to everyone else in the room before closing the hangings around Harry's now king-sized bed. They both got under the covers and snuggled close to each other. Fred pulled Harry into a comforting hug, and started humming a soft tune. Harry fell asleep listening to the low sound of Fred's voice. Three days, ten hours and eleven minutes before the Second Task. 

One hour and twelve minutes until the Second Task. George, Ron, Ginny and Harry were walking slowly towards the lake with Neville, who was handing a handful of slimy, green, seaweed-looking stuff to Harry. "You better be totally sure that this will work, Neville." Harry said, glancing over his shoulder. He hadn't seen Fred all morning, not since Professor McGonagall had asked to see him in her office the previous night. Just him, no George. This also set the other Weasley twin on edge, as he often glanced back at the castle, much like Harry. "Look, we've been through his. It's going to work. Where the hell is Fred?" George said, evidently as frustrated and nervous as Harry was. "You're absolutely sure he didn't come to bed last night?" Ron asked Harry. "Ron, we are in the same dorm. You would've heard him, too!"   
Ron nodded. "True... true." Hermione was also missing, but she had said something about going to the library the night before, and that they should meet her at the stands if she wasn't in the Common Room by seven the next morning, so none of them were too concerned about it. George sighed and clasped his hands together anxiously. "You three go ahead, I need a word with Harry." He said to Ron, Neville and Ginny. They all gave him a confused look, then stopped. Next thing Harry knew, his vision was blurred with ginger hair. "Ow! Ginny, what-?"   
"Just in case I don't see you again until after the Task. Good luck, Harry!" She broke away from him, leaving Harry stood there, completely baffled. Ron clapped a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be rooting for you, mate." He said. Neville nodded. "Good luck, Harry!" He said, then the three of them walked off. Harry and George waited for them to get ahead a little before George turned to Harry. "Keep walking." He said. The two of them set off at the same slow pace they had been using before. "Something's happened to Fred. Nothing bad!" He added hastily, as Harry urgently opened his mouth. "Just something... isn't right. It's like there's a piece of the puzzle missing. I usually get this when we test sweets and he blacks out momentarily, but it's never been this intense before... not since Second Year." He said gravely.   
"What happened Second Year?" Harry asked, seriousness claiming his voice. "It was... erm... our second ever Quidditch match as Gryffindor Beaters." George said, taking deep breaths. "It was against Slytherin. Six minutes in, Fred took both Bludgers to the head. I couldn't... I couldn't catch him before he hit the ground... none of us could. He just laid there, sprawled out like a rag doll. He didn't wake up for over a week." He said, a mixture of anxiety, sadness and amusement in his voice. "He's unconscious, at least. I know that much. But, if he was injured or ill, someone would've come to get us. The Weasleys and you, I mean." Harry nodded, somewhat relieved despite the fact he'd just been told his boyfriend is currently unconscious. 

They arrived at the lake with ten minutes to spare. Surprisingly, George pulled him into a warm embrace. It reminded Harry of Fred. "That's from Fred. I'm not going to kiss you, though, so I'm sorry you miss that part out." He said, smiling. Harry grinned. "Thanks, George." He said. George wished him luck and went up into the stands to sit next to Ron, who was watching Harry through Omnioculars. 

George POV

It was time. The canon had just sounded. Krum looked like half a shark, Fleur and Cedric we're using Bubble-head, and Harry was... struggling to breathe? He held his borrowed pair of Omnioculars to his face just in time to see Harry being pushed roughly into the lake by Moody. "Damn! He clearly couldn't breathe!" George shouted. Neville leaned across Ron to speak to him. "It's the gills! He can't breathe above water!" George sighed in understanding. "Where is he?" George asked, getting apprehensive. There was no sign of the fourth champion. They'd seen Cedric, Krum and Fleur swimming down, but Harry had just disappeared. People were looking for him in the stands, pointing towards the water. "I hope the giant squid didn't get him." Ginny said worriedly. George shook his head. "Nah, it wouldn't have- whoa! YES HARRY!" Harry had leapt out of the water in a high backflip. "Oh my god!" George shouted, not long after Harry disappeared again and the stands settled. George was suddenly standing up. "What?" Ron, Ginny and Neville said in unison. "That thing that Dumbledore said! 'Last night, something was taken from each of our champions.'" To his frustration, Ron, Ginny and Neville merely gawped at him. "Fred! McGonagall took Fred! I've had this feeling since last night, that Fred was unconscious. He's in the lake! Harry has to save Fred!" He exclaimed. The two redheads and Neville gasped. "Of course! Dumbledore must've put a charm on the champions' casualties, so to speak, so it breaks when they come above water or something!" Ron shouted. "Wait! Hermione! She must've known, that's why she told us to just go if she's not there!" Ron sighed.   
"Ron, she said she'd meet us here." Ginny said. George also sighed at the predicament. "Yeah but, when you think about it, she could be Krum's! I've not exactly seen him with any particular friends, and he took her to the Ball! Plus, we're fifteen minutes into the Task, still no Hermione!" Ginny and Neville looked as stunned as George felt. "Wow, Ron. I have never considered admitting you're my brother so much in my life." George stated simply. 

Fifteen minutes in...  
Twenty minutes... Fleur rises from the water with a mediwizard. She's covered in scratches and cuts. Bagman says something about Grindylows...  
Half and hour... the people in the stands were starting to get restless, despite the lame commentary Ludo Bagman was giving.  
Forty minutes...  
Fifty two minutes...  
Fifty eight minutes... where were the champions?  
Sixty minutes... the hour is up. The bell chimes, and the stands go deathly silent. There's no sign of any of the champions...  
Sixty one minutes... Cedric resurfaces with Cho Chang. Every Hogwarts student goes wild. The Hufflepuffs are screaming bloody murder. The staff hurry to get Cedric and Cho out of the water with towels round them just as Krum resurfaces to tumulus applause from the Durmstrangs. Only Harry left now...  
Sixty six minutes... that Gillyweed was only meant to last an hour...  
Seventy two minutes... staff are talking about something, serious expressions on their faces...  
Seventy seven minutes... Harry still wasn't back.   
Eighty three minutes... mediwizards are getting ready to go and look for him, casting Bubble-head charms on themselves. Everyone was standing up, trying to get a better look. There was a low murmur of conversation, discussing whether or not Harry was dead. George had to admit, he was beginning to worry.   
Eighty four minutes... Harry and Fred finally resurface with a young girl who appeared to be Fleur's sister. George screamed until his throat was sore in applause and sprinted down the stands and across to where the staff were busying over those who returned. By the time he got there, Fleur's sister, Fred and Harry were covered in thick blankets and were receiving doses of Pepper-Up potion. Fred and Harry were locked in a tight embrace where they stood. "You were so brave... I'm so proud of you." Fred was saying. George could tell he was crying, just as he had done after the First Task, except George had been the one he was clinging to. 

Harry's POV

Gryffindor Common Room had been very loud that night. A huge party had been thrown for Harry's success in tying first with Cedric, despite being the last to return. A huge red and gold banner had been strung up that said 'Moral Fibre' in huge silver lettering. Fred and George has snuck off to Hogsmeade to get some butterbeer, then had gone down to the kitchen to get mountains of food stored in a bag with an undetectable extension charm on it. Everyone was shaking Harry's hand, singing, chanting and having a good time. Harry was thoroughly enjoying himself. At two thirty in the morning, however, Professor McGonagall had sent them all to bed, although she too was smiling. Now, Harry's dormitory was full once again. Fred, George and Hermione had joined them to talk about and celebrate the Second Task. Harry was recounting the moment he saw Fred and the other hostages. "And then I saw a mop of red hair and I just... I panicked. I saw Fred's face and... damn. I thought he was dead until I saw the bubbles coming out of his nose." Everyone laughed at that, even Fred, who had his arm wrapped around Harry, his head rested on top of Harry's own. "My hero!" Fred exclaimed dramatically, grabbing Harry's chin and turning his head so he could kiss him. Harry blushed slightly. That was the first time he'd kissed Fred in front of his entire dorm. Dean and Neville gasped slightly, and Seamus whooped. "Right. I'm off to bed. I'm shattered." George said, slapping his knees and rising from Ron's bed. "Me, too. I have loads of homework to do tomorrow." Hermione said, rising from the end of Neville's. The two bid everyone else goodbye and left the room. Those who were left in the dorm got under their covers, Fred once again in Harry's bed, and fell asleep almost instantly. Harry, however, lay awake, inhaling Fred's comforting scent. "You scared George senseless, you know." Fred whispered to him, so quietly Harry struggled to hear him. "Really?" He said, equally quietly. He felt Fred nod. "Yep. He told me." Harry and Fred sighed in unison. Fred began humming his tune again, and Harry fell asleep calmly, listening to Fred's soft song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews and Kudos welcome :)


	8. Cries and Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fred has a nightmare, but what Harry doesn’t know is it’s actually a regular occurrence...

Harry was shaken awake. He could hear whimpers, and his eyes snapped open. It was still pitch black in the dormitory, a quick glance at the alarm clock showing it was 3:26am. All thoughts about the time, however, left his mind when he felt Fred next to him. He was twitching and whimpering, his whole body occasionally jerking. Harry rolled over quickly and sat up. Fred's face was covered in a layer of sweat, and was almost as white as the sheets beneath him. His expression was one of sheer terror, yet his eyes were still closed. He was murmuring almost incoherently, but Harry caught a few words. "What about... why does... no... no... come up... 'Arry..." Harry was frozen. He had no clue what to do. He was just about to shake Fred when he heard a groan coming from the bed next to theirs. George had woken up. Harry watched as the other Weasley twin sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "'Arry? 'Zat you?" Harry motioned towards Fred, silently answering George's question. "I know. 'S why I woke up. Felt it." He laid a hand on his chest. Harry didn't really understand but he, once again, motioned to Fred as the older boy suddenly became more distressed, his entire body jerking. "Uh-oh." George said, now obviously wide awake. He crossed the distance between the two beds in three steps and told Harry to get off. George gently shook Fred's twitching shoulder. "Fred... Freddie. It's me, George. Come on, now, wake up." But Fred only jerked more, trying to curl away from George's hand. It was the strangest thing Harry had ever seen. The twins were cheerful, happy-go-lucky teenagers. Yet, here they were. George shook Fred's shoulder more vigorously and began speaking a little louder, with more urgency. "Fred. Fred, come on, mate. It's only a nightmare; I need you to wake up, Fred." But Fred showed no signs of waking up. "Ah, Merlin, this has never happened before. Fred! Fred, come on!" George said, his voice raising to almost a shout. Harry placed his hand gently on top of George's. "Let me." George thought for a second, then took a step back, nodding at Harry. Harry tried to wake Fred, but his efforts were fruitless. Fred was now all but thrashing in his sleep, and Lee was waking up. "George? 'Arry? Wassappening?" He said tiredly. Harry walked over to his bed and put a firm hand on his shoulder. "It's fine, we got it, Lee. Go back to sleep." Lee nodded slowly and laid back down, snoring the second his head hit the pillow. "HARRY!" George shouted. Harry whipped his head round. Fred was thrashing in his bed. As Harry watched, frozen in his position at the side of Lee's bed, Fred arched his back, cried out, then screamed at the top of his lungs. George also cried out and smacked a hand against his own chest. Lee and the other Sixth Year boy shot awake. Harry rushed over to Fred. "NO! HARRY! PLEASE, NOT HARRY! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, HE'S A BOY!" Fred shouted in his sleep. Then, to Harry and George's utter shock, Fred let out a hair-raising, blood-curdling scream and bolted upright in bed, trying desperately to untangle himself from the covers as he continued yelling. Harry and George both tried to help him, but Fred cringed away. "NO! PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T HURT US! NO, GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" He shouted. Harry and George, the latter of which looked to be in a fair amount of pain, immediately backed away from the bed. Harry looked over at Lee, who had gone very pale. "Get McGonagall, now!" Lee nodded and scurried off. Harry turned to the other Sixth Year. "Make sure nobody comes in here except Lee and McGonagall!" The Sixth Year nodded and quickly followed Lee out of the door, shouting at a Second Year as he closed it behind him. Harry turned to George, who was definitely in pain. "George? What's wrong?" Harry shouted over Fred's screams and yells. "Hurts... when Fred... is scared." George replied. Harry nodded, making a mental note to ask later. 

Harry and George were forced to watch as Fred continued to scream in his sub-conscious state. Whenever they tried to help him, Fred yelled at them to get away from him. By the time Professor McGonagall came back with Lee, Fred had almost screamed himself hoarse, but he was still shouting very loudly. McGonagall hurried over to them in her tartan dressing gown, her usually pristine hair a mess and a look of shock on her pale face. "Potter! What on earth is wrong with Mr Weasley?" She demanded upon seeing Fred. Harry hastened to reply. "I don't know... I-I was asleep a-and his twitching woke me up. We, m-meaning me and G-George, think he's having a nightmare, b-but George said he's never g-got like this before. Every time w-we try and h-help him, he-he screams at u-us." McGonagall nodded and hurried past Harry over to Fred. "Mr Weasley! Mr Weasley!" She shouted. Fred took no notice. "What usually wakes him up?" She asked George, who was still clearly in a lot of pain and was as white as the bedsheets. When he spoke, his voice sounded far away and wispy, as though he'd not drank anything all day. "Usually he doesn't get this bad. He might jerk a bit, a shake of the shoulders or a slap usually does it. It's never been this bad before." McGonagall took out her wand. "To all three of you, I apologise. Reliqua!" Fred's screams stopped abruptly and he collapsed, limp as a rag doll, onto the mattress. Harry staggered back a few steps. Surely Professor McGonagall wouldn't intentionally hurt Fred? Yet, he'd just collapsed, he wasn't moving at all. George had given a loud sigh and collapsed into the chair beside Fred's bed, a hand on his chest. He didn't look to be in pain anymore. McGonagall turned to Lee, who had sat back down on his own bed. "Mr Jordan, could you tell Mr Walsh that everyone is to return to their dormitories immediately." Lee nodded and hurried out of the room. McGonagall turned back to Harry's scared expression. "Don't worry, Mr Potter. That spell won't hurt him. He'll be ok. I will, however, need to take him to the Hospital Wing. He will need a Dreamless Sleep potion." Harry nodded. Everyone lapsed into silence, listening to the sounds of Lee and Walsh trying to get everyone back to their dorms. They could hear people protesting, demanding to know what's happening. Upon hearing the complaints, McGonagall excused herself to help the Sixth Years. 

George had his head in his hands, breathing deeply, his broad shoulders heaving. Harry walked over to him and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "George? You ok?" George looked up and sighed. "Yeah. Just hurts when Fred gets scared or upset. No idea why, Fred gets it too. Must be connection we have or something." Harry hummed in agreement. "Have you looked into it?" He asked. George shrugged and sighed again. "Not really. We did a bit of research in our Second Year, but it's too complicated. We just deal with it." Harry nodded and the two fell silent, both of them watching Fred for any signs of movement. He was still pale, a sheet of sweat making his face and upper body glisten. "Maybe we should untangle him." Harry said. George stood up and they both worked together to remove the blanket from Fred's body and off the bed, dumping it on George's. Fred was now lying on his back on the mattress, wearing only a pair of trousers. Harry couldn't help it, he admired Fred's body. The toned muscles, the broad shoulders, the shock of red hair, the sharp collarbones and jawline. He was... beautiful. "Hey. That's my unconscious twin you're goggling at." George said, smiling amusedly and snapping his fingers, bringing Harry out of his own mind. Harry chuckled. "Sorry." George smiled. McGonagall walked through the door looking slightly annoyed. Her face softened, however, when she saw the two boys smiling. "What happened here?" She said, looking from Fred, to Harry, to George, and back. Harry and George exchanged a look. "Nothing, Professor. We just untangled him, that's all." George said, with a tiny wink at Harry, who smirked in returned. "Yeah." McGonagall looked slightly suspicious, but didn't question it. "Mobilicorpus." She said, waving her wand at Fred's limp form. Said limp form hovered above the bed, and McGonagall guided him away from it and over to the door. George opened it, and the four of them, including Fred, left the room. Harry and George had both paled again, worry for Fred seeping back into their systems. 

"He'll be ok. If he's not too shaken in the morning, he can leave and go about his normal day." Harry and George let out loud sighs of relief, the latter sinking into the nearest chair beside Fred's bed. "What happened? Why was it so bad?" Harry asked, plonking himself down at the foot of Fred's bed. "I don't know, it's all in his head. I should hope you two can get it out of him. I don't know what he saw, but it definitely wasn't pleasant." Madam Pomfrey said. George nodded, and Harry hummed. "You have no idea." George croaked. Madam Pomfrey told them to get her when Fred wakes up, so she can do some final checks, and left another flask of Dreamless Sleep potion on the bedside cabinet, just in case. Then, she instructed one of them to leave, as only one could stay with Fred. Harry and George point-blank refused. Seeing no sign of them letting up, McGonagall conjured two extra beds. "No, Professor. We only need one." George said. McGonagall looked confused. "Whatever do you mean, Mr Weasley?" George didn't answer, he just glanced at Harry. "I see. Well, whilst Mr Weasley is in the hospital, Mr Potter, you can't sleep in his bed." Harry sighed.   
"I get it." He muttered to his bare feet. Satisfied, McGonagall wished them goodnight and swiftly left the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey hurried to her own quarters soon after, muttering about god knows what. George gave Harry a questioning look, but Harry just winked back and walked round to the other side of Fred's bed. He bent down slightly and shoved Fred so that the older boy was only covering half the bed. George snorted. Harry climbed under the covers next to Fred, wrapping an arm around his waist. Fred grumbled a little in his sleep, but didn't wake up. Harry heard George climb into his own bed and inhaled Fred's scent. He smelt so sweet, even though he was still sweating quite a bit and he was wearing hospital pyjamas. He smelt amazing, making Harry feel secure. Harry felt so lucky to be with Fred, the guy truly was magnificent. With thoughts of Fred in his mind, Harry fell asleep. 

"... seriously gonna have to wake him up soon. My bladder's gonna burst." A snort and a laugh.   
"It's not funny, George, I need to pee!" Harry opened his eyes. He was laying across Fred's chest looking... well... down there. He shot up and gasped. "Blimey, Harry! You ok?" Fred said, jumping slightly at the outburst. Harry chuckled. "Yeah. That just wasn't the wake-up sight I was expecting.” George gave a shout of laughter and Fred blushed. God, he looked adorable when he blushed. "Right, well, I can go pee now." Getting smoothly out of bed, Fred whispered something to George that Harry didn't catch, then all but sprinted out of the main hospital wing to the bathroom that was attached. Harry turned to George, who sighed and stretched. "Madam Pomfrey wasn't too happy you slept in his bed. He's ok, though. He's going into normal lessons. He doesn't remember anything about last night, and he's ok with that." George explained.   
"So, he doesn't know what made it so bad last night?" George shook his head.   
"Nope. He hasn't got a clue. He said he doesn't remember the nightmare, but I know he's lying. He always remembers it. He just never remembers what happens afterwards." Harry nodded at George's explanation. He understood how Fred felt. He'd had nightmares about a bright green flash of light for as long as he could remember. He only learnt on his eleventh birthday that the green light had been the curse that killed his mother and father. For years, the Dursleys has insisted it was a car crash that had killed his parents, and he lived for ten years in utter confusion regarding said light. Before he could ponder any further than that, lips were being gently pressed against his. Harry's breath hitched but, realising who it was, he responded. Fred parted his lips slightly, and Harry felt a tongue graze over his bottom lip. Harry parted his own lips, granting Fred entry. When Fred eventually broke away, the two were panting and they both had swollen lips. "Fina-blooding-ly! Thought we'd all graduate before you two stopped!" George exclaimed, his head peering above the newspaper he had been hiding behind. Fred and Harry chuckled. "I swear you've said that before." Fred said, chucking a pillow at George. A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey came out to tell them they could leave and go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. 

The moment they sat down, Ron and Hermione rushed over to them and sat opposite George and Harry. "You've been in the hospital wing." Ron said. Harry, Fred and George leant back slightly in surprise. "So what if we have?" George said. It was obvious, they were the last to go to breakfast, so there was no point arguing. "So it was one of you screaming last night." Ron said. Harry paled. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the twins had as well. "Me. It was me. I had a nightmare about the dragon and the Second Task. Fred and George couldn't wake me up." Harry said, lowering his voice so only the five of them could hear, he knew everyone nearby was listening. "Oh. Sorry, Harry. We were just confused." Hermione said. Ron, however, looked suspicious. "The voice was too low to be yours, Harry. It was one of you two." He said, gesturing to the twins, both of whom smirked. "Nope. Have you ever heard Harry scream? I have." Fred said, puffing his chest out proudly. George snorted, Hermione stifled a giggle, and Ron tried not to grin. Harry slapped Fred's arm. "Really? Wow, Fred, really just... wow." He said, putting his head in his hands. He could already feel his face burning as those nearby laughed. Fred chuckled. "Sorry, Harrykins." He said, throwing an arm around Harry's shoulders and laughing. Harry picked up a large slice of toast, buttered it, and slapped it on to Fred's cheek, where it slowly slipped its way down his face and fell into his lap. Fred made no move to remove it, he just scrunched up his face as people pointed and laughed. When it fell into his lap, he uncurled his expression. "I deserved that." He said, grinning. "Yeah, you did! Exposing our deepest secret!" Harry said, still grinning. George choked on his pumpkin juice, spluttering and sending it raining over Ron and Hermione, who also looked slightly shocked. George turned the the pair of them, horrified. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE KIDDING!" Harry and Fred scrambled off of the bench and sprinted out of the Hall.

"So, Potter!" Malfoy called across the small gap that separated their tables. Harry and Ron looked over at Malfoy, who was sat with Crabbe. McGonagall was at the other end of the room, helping Neville. The snail he was meant to be transfiguring kept zooming across the table whenever he tried the spell. Malfoy kept his voice low enough so she wouldn't hear him. "Is it true you and Weasley... you know... did it." He said, grinning wickedly. Crabbe laughed and made a hand gesture that explained what Malfoy was talking about. "Don't you have anything better to do with your lousy life?" He continued. Harry ignored him and carried on writing notes on his progress so far with his snail. "Take that as a yes. I'd be careful, Potter. You don't know what that vile creature gets up to in his spare time with his equally disgusting twin." Ron reacted before Harry could even finish opening his mouth. He'd shot out of his chair and across to Malfoy, smacking his fist into he blonde's face. A loud crack echoed around the classroom, sending everyone into silence. Ron stood above Malfoy, who was now laying on the floor. He kicked Malfoy in the ribs, hard. Another loud crack echoed. Harry stood up and dragged Ron away, holding tightly onto his elbows. Ron was considerably taller than him, but he seemed to feel as though enough damage had been done. "Mr Weasley! What on earth happened here?" McGonagall said, her mouth thin as a line. Harry, who was still furious, released a deeply breathing Ron, who was still glowering at Malfoy. "Told you not to take the mess out of Fred and George, Malfoy. But you didn't listen." He growled at the sobbing git. Coming to a conclusion, she sent Harry and Ron to her office, dismissed the class, and sent Malfoy to the hospital wing. 

"Now we've both got detentions, and Ron's getting a letter home." Harry finished, looking up from his feet to see three faces looking sceptically at him, two of which were identical. "Wow. You two are barmy. Thanks though, Ron." George said. Hermione gasped and lightly slapped George's arm. George looked slightly taken aback at the action. "Don't encourage him! Ron, you're lucky you weren't expelled!" Ron shrugged. "Oh well. Malfoy's had it coming to him since First Year. Nobody takes the mess out of my family and gets away with it."  
"Hear, hear!" Fred exclaimed, grinning. Harry stood up from his armchair and crossed to sit, slightly squished, in between the twins. "Ew, no way in hell am I being the third wheel!" George exclaimed, getting up and sitting in the vacant armchair. He still hadn't got over Fred's comment from that morning. Everyone laughed, then fell into a comfortable silence. Harry curled into Fred, who wrapped his arms around Harry protectively. "Wanna sneak into the Prefect's bathroom again tonight?" He murmured in Harry's ear. Harry instantly got excited and grinned. "Definitely." He said. George groaned. "Fred, go take a cold shower." He said, stretching. Fred grunted and rolled over onto his front. Harry moved out of the way as the redhead wormed his way over the back of the sofa, slumping onto the floor. Keeping his front faced away from the rest of them, Fred went up to the dormitories without another word. When the penny dropped, Harry snorted and laid out on his back. Ron groaned and made a retching noise. Hermione, once again, stifled a giggle. 

"How're you feeling after last night?" Harry asked Fred. The two of them were alone in the Prefect's bathroom, chest-deep in hot water. They had their elbows on the side of the pool-sized bath, keeping themselves afloat. "I'm good. Bit shaken when I first woke up, I knew something was wrong the moment I recognised the hospital wing. Took a minute for me to remember what- crap." He said. Harry turned so his body was facing Fred. "You remember? I thought you said-?"   
"Yeah, I did." Fred interrupted, he sounded slightly annoyed with himself. "I do remember, Harry. I always remember. It's just... it's just humiliating." Harry struggled to hear the last part, it was said so quietly. Harry pulled Fred into a comforting hug. Fred buried his face into Harry's collarbone and wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him closer. Harry kept a hand on the back of Fred's head, stroking the red hair soothingly. "I get it. I seriously do. It's ok, Fred, you can tell me anything, you know that." He felt Fred nod. About a minute later, Fred pulled back, his eyes slightly red. "Thanks, Harry." Harry nodded and grabbed Fred's hand under the water, interlocking their fingers. They stayed there in silence for a few minutes, then Fred chuckled nervously. "What?" Harry questioned. Fred pushed himself up and sat on the side of the pool, only keeping his feet and half his shins in the water. Harry joined him, the water coming up to his knees. Fred grabbed Harry's chin and pulled his head around to face him. Then, he kissed him. Harry felt Fred's long fingers run through his raven hair, and immediately responded. It was short, but sweet. When they broke apart, Harry saw Fred's cheeks were slightly pink, and he still looked quite nervous. "What is it?" Harry asked. Fred looked him right in the eye, and Harry didn't break the contact. Fred nervously chuckled again, briefly closing his eyes, then blue locked onto green. "I love you, Harry Potter." Harry blinked. "What?" He gasped, barely able to breathe, let alone speak. "I love you." Fred repeated, slightly more confidently, but he glanced down at the water. Harry's breath hitched and he took a deep breath. He turned Fred's head to face him and kissed him. Looking him dead in the eye, he replied. "I love you too, Fred Weasley." Fred grinned and pushed his lips up against Harry's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wrote this on 2/5/2019, the 21st anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts /*


	9. Time Of Bonding

"You two are gross!"   
"No we are not!"   
"Like you've never done it before!"  
Fred, George and Harry were sat with Lee in the Sixth Year dormitory. Lee roared with laughter while George grinned at the couple. "Yes. You. Are. I can't believe you did it in the Prefect's bathroom!" Fred and Harry laughed. Lee nearly fell off his bed from rolling around. He wheezed out a laugh and wiped away tears. "I'm gonna... ha ha... go to the Library... got... ha ha ha... too much... ha ha... homework!" With that, he waved himself out, still laughing. Harry grinned and snuggled closer to Fred. It was a weekend, Ron and Hermione were in the Library, revising for exams that Fred and George couldn't be bothered with, and Harry was excused from them, being a Champion and all. The weather was nice, resulting in the Common Room being quiet, the corridors were practically empty as everyone was enjoying the sun. In short, it was one of the best weekends Harry had ever had. It was two in the afternoon, he was still in his pyjamas, and he was lounging around, talking and laughing with the twins. He felt relaxed, at peace and, for the first time since his name came out of the goblet in September, safe. Fred wrapped his arms around Harry and laid them in his stomach, waking the younger boy out of his reverie. "You have to go down to the Quidditch Pitch tonight, remember? Bagman needs to tell you about the Task." Fred said. Harry nodded, his relaxed feeling becoming slightly strained. "Yeah, I know. I'll go down around 7:30, he wants us there by eight." Fred nodded and leant forwards, resting his chin on Harry's forehead. Harry tilted his head up and pressed their lips together. "Would you two please not do that while we're alone? Makes me the third wheel!" Fred grinned, his teeth pressing into Harry's lips. Harry tried to ignore the slight tightness in his trousers and grinned back, nibbling on Fred's bottom lip. Fred's breath hitched and he lifted Harry up so they were facing each other. 

Harry locked eyes with Fred, evil grins spreading on both their faces. As one, they leant in and their mouths collided. "Really? What have I just said like ten seconds ago?" He heard George shout, but there was a slight hint of amusement there. Harry opened his mouth slightly, allowing Fred entrance. Their tongues intertwined, battling for dominance. Harry won. He lightly bit Fred's bottom lip, earning himself a small groan from the older boy that sent shivers down his spine. Unfortunately for them, George heard and threw a pillow at their heads, thus breaking them apart. "No way in hell are you two gonna start moaning and groaning over each other while I'm here! It's just-"  
"Then leave."  
Fred's voice silenced George instantly. It was all anger, no amusement. "W-what?" George said, looking slightly offended. Harry looked from one angry twin, to one shocked twin, and back again. He'd never, ever, seen or heard Fred and George seriously argue or get angry with each other. "Leave if you don't like it. Not our problem." Fred spat, no glint in his eye at all. Harry could feel Fred shaking, and his ears were starting to go red. George looked taken aback. "Fred... Fred I was... I was kidding. I wasn't being serious!" He said, now booking a bit scared. Fred shook his head, seeming to come to his senses and realise what he'd said. "Yeah- yeah, I know. I'm sorry, George. I really am." He said. George nodded and accepted his twin's apology. Then, he grinned. "You two can carry on now. I'll just ignore it if you two start... you know." Fred threw the pillow back at George, it hit him in the face. "You git! No way would we let you see that!" The three of them burst into laughter, all tension in the air gone. With that, Fred pulled Harry's head to face him and kissed him. 

Harry wove his fingers through Fred's flaming hair, tugging it slightly and ruffling it. Fred's hands were working their way all over Harry's body, trying to touch every inch of him. From his shoulders, to his back, to his ribs, to his... hold up. Harry gasped and grabbed Fred's hand. He glanced over at George. The other Weasley twin was reading a comic book, seemingly oblivious to the events. "He cast a silencing charm. Heard him do it." Fred said, panting slightly. Harry was also gasping for breath. "Where were we?" He said, once again crushing his lips against Fred's. 

"You seriously need to learn to control yourselves." George said, as Fred removed the protective enchantments an hour and a half later. "You didn't want to see, so we made sure you couldn't." George groaned.   
"I could hear you though. You broke through my silencing charm." He whined. Harry and Fred both blushed. "Oh, jeez. Ah well, it's all natural." Fred grinned. Harry smiled slightly, face still a slight pink. "Still, you really need to quieten down when I'm in the room. I don’t really like hearing my twin brother moaning." George said, still grinning. Fred checked his watch. "Blimey! Dinner's in five minutes! We best go!" The three of them jumped up and ran out of the dormitory, nearly trampling a First Year as they did so. 

"WHAT?" Ron roared. Harry, Fred and George roared with laughter. Hermione opened and closed her mouth, resembling a goldfish. "You should be glad Percy's not here anymore, Fred. If he heard, he'd kill you. Then tell Mum, and she'd kill you." Ron said, now smiling slightly. Harry and the twins' laughter gradually reduced to chuckles. "Ah, I can't wait 'til you win, Harry. It's gonna be amazing." George said. Fred nodded and hummed in agreement. "Yeah, it will be." He said, and kissed Harry. Harry melted into his embrace and ate one of Fred's chips. "You little git, get your own." Fred laughed, playfully slapping Harry's hand away. Harry grinned and stole another chip. "So, when's the Third Task, Harry?" George asked. Harry shrugged as his stomach gave a jolt of fear. "24th June, s'far as I'm aware." He replied. George nodded and Fred tightened his hug, as though sensing the spark of fear Harry had just felt. "You'll do great, Harry. I seriously, honestly think you're gonna win. I mean, it's you and Diggory in first place, right?" Harry nodded. "Exactly. So really, you only have to beat him. I'm telling you, you'll win. Calling it here and now." Fred said, slapping the table, an obvious tone of finality in his voice. "I have to go." Harry said, checking his watch. "Gotta meet Bagman at the pitch in ten." He said. Fred released him and kissed his forehead. "Good luck. See you soon." He said. Ron and Hermione both wished him luck, then George clapped his shoulder. "Yeah, 'cinna bit!" He called as Harry walked away, joining Cedric at the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Wonder what it'll be?" Cedric said, and he and Harry made their way towards the Quidditch Pitch. "Dunno. Probably gonna be more dangerous than the other two tasks, though." Harry said, his stomach giving another jolt. If this final task was indeed going to be harder and more dangerous than the others, he would surely fail. He had almost failed the last one, if Neville hadn't thought of Gillyweed, Harry would've surely perished in dark depths of the Black Lake, surrounded by Merpeople and Grindylows. The dragon had been a lucky one, Harry will be ever thankful for Hagrid showing him beforehand. Again, if Hagrid hadn't thought to show him, Harry would've perished in the First Task easily. "You alive in there?" Harry blinked, and saw Cedric grinning at him. "Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking about the Task." He lied. Cedric hummed and sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, me too. Like I said, I'll have a good go. If all else fails, I'll back out. Simple. Don't really want to back out, though. That's only a last resort." Harry nodded. He agreed with Cedric. He was just going to wing it, if he knows he's going to perish, he'll back out. Soon after Cedric's last statement, they reached the Quidditch Pitch. Fleur and Krum were already stood on either side of Ludo Bagman when they reached him. "Ah, the final champions! Good of you to join us!" Bagman exclaimed, beaming his boyish grin at the two Hogwarts champions. Harry and Cedric, however, didn't reply. They came to a sudden halt and gawped at the Quidditch Pitch, jaws practically sitting on the floor. The Quidditch Pitch had been turned into what looked like a massive hedge. "Hedges. They're... hedges." Cedric muttered, barely audibly. Their Quidditch Pitch, _their Quidditch Pitch_ , was covered in three feet tall hedges. Cedric and Harry, waking from their reveries, climbed over the hedges towards the other Champions and Bagman. "Don't worry, you'll get your Quidditch Pitch back once the Third Task is over." Bagman said, noticing the appalled looks on both Harry and Cedric's faces. "By the time the Task comes around, Hagrid should have these twenty feet tall!" This didn't help, Harry felt himself go pale slightly. His Quidditch Pitch was going to have twenty foot high hedges on them? "Does anybody know what these hedges are meant to be?" Bagman asked. Harry was too appalled to reply. Nobody said anything, until there was a grunt from Bagman's left. "Maze." Krum grunted. "Excellent! Now, the Third Task is simple." Bagman said. Harry noticed Krum's face. He was glancing around the Pitch, a weird look on his face. _Of course, he's a Quidditch player, too!_ Harry thought. Krum was the only one who knew how he felt, however minutely. Besides Cedric, of course. Bagman continued on with the instructions. "The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the centre of the Maze. All you have to do, is retrieve it. The first champion to touch the Cup, will win the Tournament." Harry relaxed slightly. He only had to find his way through a maze. That's it. Just a maze. He shook himself mentally. Four years in the magical world told Harry that a maze would never be just a maze. Turns out, he was right. "Hagrid will be getting together of a number of magical creatures, which will be placed at random throughout the Maze, serving as obstacles. Professor Moody will be retrieving some other forms of magical obstacles to place in the Maze, as well, thus making the Maze even more challenging!" Bagman said, practically jumping with excitement. Harry's stomach gave another jolt. He hadn't forgotten about the Blast-Ended Skrewts Hagrid has made them raise. Only Merlin knows what kind of creatures Hagrid would get for a Triwizard Tournament. Harry's stomach wasn't going to survive much longer at the thought of Hagrid and his idea of 'tame animals'. Hagrid, after all, was the one who kept dragons and giant spiders as pets. "If you wish to leave the Maze," Bagman continued, "you need only send up red sparks. There will be staff members placed around the edges of the maze, should you need to do so. Again, all you need to do is touch the Cup. Then, you've won." Bagman finished with yet another broad grin at each of the Champions. After assuring no-one had any questions, Bagman dismissed them. Harry made to walk back to the castle with Cedric, but Bagman grabbed his shoulder. "Harry! How are you? Nervous?" Harry did get chance to reply. "Listen, Harry, if you ever need any help with the Tournament, or anything, really, I'll always help. Do you need any assistance now? With the Third Task?" Harry shook his head and spoke firmly. "No, Mr Bagman, but thanks." It took a whole two minutes to shake off Bagman. However, as soon as he did, another hand lay on his shoulder. "Potter? Could I haf a vord?" Harry turned around. Krum was there. "Erm, I mean, y-"   
"Harry! Hey, Harry, over here!" Fred and George were sprinting towards him. Harry grinned as they approached. Seconds later, he was enveloped in a tight hug by Fred. "Tell us when we get to the dormitory." He whispered in Harry's ear. Harry nodded as Fred let go of him and grabbed hold of Harry's hand, interlocking their fingers. "What's up, Krum?" George asked, turning to Viktor. His grin became slightly forced. "I vas vondering if I could haf a vord vith Potter?" Krum said, looking the twins dead in the eye. Both twins, however, were half a foot taller than the Bulgarian Seeker, and towered over him. Harry had to admit, despite their kind features, Fred and George looked quite intimidating. "Not right now. We need to get back to the castle." Fred said, gripping Harry's hand tighter. Harry squeezed back slightly. Krum frowned even further. "It's important." He grunted, anger evident in his voice. "If it's so important, say it now. Harry'll tell us anyway." George said, laying a hand firmly, and a little protectively, on Harry's shoulder. "No. Only Potter." Krum said, clearly getting angrier by the minute. "Tatty-ho, then!" The twins said in unison, steering Harry towards the castle, leaving Krum stood there, round-shouldered and grumpy. 

Once they were quite a distance away from Krum, George let go of Harry's shoulder. "Git. Bet he was tryna lure you away and stun you or something." He said.   
"Yeah. I mean, he's from Durmstrang. He could've been tryna Imperio you, Harry. Gotta be careful around them Durmstrang lot." Fred agreed, keeping a tight hold of Harry's hand. "I don't know, guys. Hermione says he's a decent guy, and he hasn't tried to do anything drastic yet. I just... I dunno, he just doesn't seem the type of person to Imperio anyone." Harry stated, squeezing Fred's hand in reassurance. Both Fred and George grunted in disagreement, but didn't say anything else. "FRED WEASLEY, PUT ME DOWN THIS SECOND!" Harry roared, as Fred scooped Harry up and lifted him onto his shoulders. "Hahaha, absolutely not, Harrykins." Fred said, while George roared with laughter, clutching his stomach at the pout on Harry's face. "You big GIT! PUT ME DOWN!" Harry shouted, but he couldn't fight the smile. The trio laughed all the way back to the castle and up to Gryffindor Tower. Once they reached the portrait hole, Harry had to climb down, off of Fred's shoulders, in order to fit through the entrance to the Common Room. Fred, George and Harry went straight through the Common Room and up to the Sixth Year dormitory, Ron and Hermione following in their wake. "So. What's the Task, Harry?" Ron asked, once everyone was settled. Hermione and George on George's bed, Harry and Fred on Fred's bed, and Ron sat in the wooden chair between the two occupied beds. Harry explained everything, what Bagman had said, what he had seen at the Quidditch Pitch, and the encounter with Viktor. When Fred and George raised their suspicions about the Durmstrang student, Hermione shook her head. "No, he wouldn't Imperio Harry. Viktor quite likes him, thinks he's tougher than he looks. Which, no doubt, he is." Hermione said, with a pointed look at Harry. "Yes, Viktor wants to win. But, to be fair, all the champions do. But no, I don't think Viktor would go so far so as to put Harry under the Imperius Curse." She stated. Ron huffed, Fred jostled a little, and George still looked unsure. Harry didn't know what to believe. He didn't dislike Viktor, but they weren't exactly friends. He and Viktor were sort of... civil. Harry had barely spoken to him, tonight only being the second time. So Harry just shrugged and grabbed a sweet from the bedside table. "What's this?" He asked George, who smiled slightly. "It's one of our products. It's a work in progress, but we think we got the right batch this time. That reminds me. Fred, you were going to try that, weren't you?" He said to his twin, who let out a short laugh. "Oh yeah! Harry, pass that here." Harry handed the bright orange and green sweet over to Fred, who unwrapped it and stood up. "George, you ready?" Harry, Ron and Hermione watched as George moved to stand next to Fred, ready to catch him. "Ready, Fred." He said, holding out his arms, one either side of his twin. Fred took a deep breath and glanced at Harry. Harry was quite nervous, particularly after his own reaction to one of the twins' products. Still, they were confident they had the right batch so, with an encouraging smile, he nodded at his boyfriend. Fred nodded back, blinked, and put the orange end of the sweet in his mouth. 

Fred sucked on it for about a second. Then, his eyes rolled back, his head lolled backwards, and he collapsed into George's arms. Harry felt a pang of fear, and made to move off the bed. Ron did the same, and Hermione squeaked, clapping her hands over her face. George, however, lowered Fred down onto the floor and stood back. "Brilliant!" George said, grabbing a piece of parchment and making notes of Fred's condition and reaction. Harry and Ron relaxed, sitting back in there original positions. "That is not brilliant! What if something would've gone wrong?" Hermione exclaimed, outraged. Harry and Ron, after realising that Fred was ok, grinned at Hermione. "But it didn't, did it? Besides, I doubt they'd try it if they didn't have a remedy just in case." Ron said. On cue, George pulled from his pocket a small vial with a deep blue coloured liquid inside it, not looking up from his clipboard. "It worked every time we failed." He said, grinning and giving the vial a small shake before putting it back in his pocket and continuing writing. Once he'd made all his notes, George popped the green end of the sweet into Fred's mouth, which was slightly ajar. Nothing happened. "Hold on..." George said, kneeling down next to Fred and poking the sweet further into his twin's mouth. "Uh-oh." He said, paling slightly. "What? What's happening?" Ron said, looking slightly scared. Harry's stomach gave at jolt, and he knelt next to George. "George... what's happening?" George gulped and took a deep breath. "That green end is supposed to wake him up instantly." He said. Harry felt his face go pale. George took the blue liquid out of his pocket, tilted Fred's head up to face the ceiling, and poured the liquid down his throat. Fred immediately sat up and started coughing violently. Harry and George jumped back, but they were relieved. "I take it... the green bit... didn't work then?" Fred said, through gasps of breath. "Nope. Back to planning, bro." George said, helping Fred stand. The three of them resumed their previous positions. "Exploding Snap, anyone?" George said, holding up a pack. Everyone gathered on the floor to play, Harry resting his head on Fred's shoulder. It had only been a slight scare when Fred didn't wake up, but it made him appreciate the redhead even more. 

Three hours later, Ron and Hermione departed for their dorms. Fred and George got changed while Harry showered. Climbing into their respective beds, the twins glanced at each other as Harry entered the room in scarlet pyjamas. Harry saw George mouth something to his twin. Fred shrugged. "Harry, turn around." George said. Harry did so, so his back was facing the Sixth Years. "Yeah, they are." George said aloud. "Huh?" Harry asked. "They're my pyjamas, not Fred's." George said, grinning. Harry blushed. "Crap, sorry George." Harry said, running back into the bathroom to change, returning with the same pyjamas on, except the initials F.W were on the back. Harry hadn't even noticed them before. Climbing into bed with Fred, he groaned. He was exhausted. "You know, Harrykins, you are probably the most important person in my life." Fred murmured in his ear. Harry blushed. "OI! What about me?" They heard George yell from the other bed. Both Harry and Fred snickered. From across the room, Lee Jordan also snorted. "Besides George, of course." Fred muttered, still in Harry's ear. They heard George say "that's better" in a low voice. Harry snuggled closer to Fred. "What's it like, being a twin?" Harry asked. Fred shrugged. "Pretty cool. It comes to our advantage, given we're identical. It gets annoying sometimes, particularly when we want people to tell us apart. That doesn't happen very often, though. It's usually amazing." Fred said. Harry could practically feel the smile radiating off of Fred, and Harry grinned. "What's it like being the Boy-Who-Lived?" Fred asked, somewhat cautiously. Harry shrugged. "It sucks. People stare at my scar, they whisper about me, nothing in my life is private, someone tries to kill me every year, they think I'm some sort of hero. It was my mother, Fred. Not me. My mother's love and sacrifice made the curse rebound. I was a baby. I didn't have extraordinary powers or proficient magical ability. I was just the average one-year-old wizard. I didn't do anything except cry." Harry finished. Fred held him tighter. "That's fair enough. You know, the moment I saw you, I knew you weren't anything like what the books had told us. Cherished hero, ultra-powerful, dragon-slayer. No, I knew you were just another wizard. That's partly the reason I like you so much. Despite everything, the Dursleys, Quirrell, the Dementors, Basilisk, everything, you still stay true, and loyal. You're gonna grow up to be a great man, Harry. And a great wizard, too, I dare say." Fred said, planting a kiss on Harry's forehead. "I sure hope so." Harry said. "I think you are too, Fred. Merlin, I hope we get to spend the rest of our lives with each other." Harry sighed, kissing Fred, his fingers tangling in the flaming hair. "As do I, Harry. As do I." Fred said tiredly.


	10. Rita Skeeter’s Unearthing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rita’s done some digging...

Harry was terrified. The Third Task was barely three weeks away, yet he felt so underprepared. Fred, George, Ron and Hermione had all been working tirelessly to prepare Harry for the Task, teaching him both defensive and offensive hexes, jinxes and other spells. They'd been sneaking into empty classrooms during breaks and lunches, sometimes even skipping classes to train (this was mainly Fred, Harry and George). Fred and George often brought food from the kitchens on weekends so that the five of them could train all day. It had gotten so bad that Professor McGonagall let them use the Transfiguration classroom, as she was tired of constantly walking in on them practising when they weren't supposed to. 

As for Harry, he was exhausted. Hours upon hours of spellwork, research, lessons and homework had left him with barely any time to sleep. He was up until the early hours most nights, and often fell asleep in class. One such time was his current Potions lesson. 

"Potter!" Harry jerked awake, nearly smacking Hermione in the face. "Is this lesson so boring and useless that you deem it an acceptable time to nap?" Snape snarled, his voice low and dangerous. Harry shook his head. "N-no sir." He stuttered, his voice rough from sleep. "Then what, pray tell, could be causing you so much trouble that it interrupts your beauty sleep, and forces you to pay back the time in my class?" Snape said, his lip curling. _Oh, I dunno, maybe the deadly Tournament I've been forced to take part in, the Third Task of which is less than a month away, plus the fact that I'm competing against three other wizards that are several years older than me and more skilled?_ Harry thought angrily. On the outside, he forced his expression into a neutral, innocent one. "The Tournament, Professor. The Third Task is three weeks away." He replied honestly, not breaking eye contact with Snape. The potions master hummed. "Indeed, That would cause such horrible troubles on an arrogant mind. Detention, Potter. After lessons end tomorrow." With that, Snape walked away. Harry sighed and put his head on the desk. "It could've been a lot worse!" Hermione hissed beside him. "It's only detention, besides, you could use a break from training!" Harry huffed and lifted up his head. "Yeah, except I was hoping to spend my Friday night sleeping, not scrubbing cauldrons with a snake." He said angrily. 

Breakfast the next day was not a fun appeal. Harry was sat with Neville, Ron and Hermione, all of which were talking about the amount of homework they had to do. "I don't know what you two are complaining about, I'm taking three more subjects than you both, one of which being Arithmancy!" Hermione exclaimed when Ron complained that he had too much to do. Harry huffed. "I don't know what _you're_ complaining about, Hermione. I've got just as much as Ron has, then the Tournament, which accounts for all the work you're doing and then some." Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but closed it as Fred and George plonked themselves in the empty seats either side of Harry. "Hey, Harry!" Fred enthusiastically exclaimed from his left, kissing him atop of his head. Harry blushed and pulled Fred into a hug. "Hey, Freddie." He said. George turned to Hermione. "What was it you were going to say, Hermione?" He asked, but Hermione just shook her head. "Doesn't matter." She said. "Anyways, Harrykins. Heard you got a detention from old Snape?" Fred asked Harry. Harry, however, was saved from responding by the arrival of the post owls. Hermione got the Daily Prophet dumped into her cereal, and the twins each got letters. Hermione dropped a knut into the post owl's pouch before it flew off as Fred and George tore open their letters, a slight look of identical apprehension on their faces. "Blimey!" They exclaimed as one. "What?" Ron asked, leaning over the table to grab George's letter, who sat there in the same position, his hands outstretched as though he was still holding his letter, his mouth hanging open slightly. Fred hastily stuffed his in his robes. "Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed.   
"What?" Harry made to grab George's letter, but Hermione slammed her newspaper on the table, making everyone jump. "For God's sake!" She exclaimed angrily. "Oh, really! Just tell me what the hell is wrong with you four!" Harry said, frustrated that he seemed to be the only one who didn't know what was happening. Ron gave Harry George's letter. His face looked grave. "Read this before you read that." He said, jerking a thumb in the direction of the newspaper that Hermione was now reading. 

_George,  
I hope this gets to you during the morning post. I overheard at the Ministry that Rita Skeeter did another article on Fred and Harry. She knows about... well... what they did. It isn't pretty, but she's exaggerated everything. Be careful about your reactions. Make sure Harry reads this before he reads the newspaper. Fred has a similar letter, with a bit more detail._

_Dad_

Mr Weasley's handwriting was scrawled and scarcely readable, obviously written in a hurry. Harry's hands were shaking as he looked calmly over at Hermione. "Give me the newspaper, please." He said, equally calmly. Hesitantly, Hermione handed over the newspaper. "P-page 13" She said, her voice squeaky and scared. Harry opened to the right page, and he, George and Fred leaned in to read. In the center of the page, there was giant, colour photograph of Harry with the title _HARRY POTTER'S SECRET HEARTACHE_

_A boy like no other perhaps- yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter found love with his steady boyfriend at Hogwarts, well-known prankster Fred Weasley. Little did he know, that Fred had a lot in store for Harry, who could only supposedly take it as 'go big, or go home'. Mr Weasley, an outgoing, eccentric boy, seems to have had a little 'taste' of the famous wizard that Harry alone managed to satisfy. Since Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire in October, Gryffindor Beater and Hogwarts Legend Fred Weasley has been toying with Harry's affections. Harry, who is openly gay with Mr Weasley, had attended the Yule Ball (a formal dance that takes place during every Triwizard Tournament) with Fred a few months ago, and, since then, Fred  insists that he has 'never felt this way about any other boy'.  
However, it might not be Mr Weasley's doubtful natural charms which has captured Harry's interests. "He's really ugly." Says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious Fourth Year student, "but he'd be well up to making a profit from Harry, he's quite poor, I think that's why he's doing it."   
Harry and Fred's situation differs still further from the norm, as Rita Skeeter uncovered some unsaid truths. Harry, aged fourteen, and Fred, aged seventeen, have apparently been getting hot and heavy in the bedroom. Mr Weasley, along with his twin brother George Weasley, is overage, so he has every right to pursue such desires. However, as Harry is only fourteen, Fred cannot legally do anything of the sort with him. "I heard they suck each other off in the bathroom." Says Draco Malfoy, another Fourth Year student. "Weasley would do anything to get his hands on a bit of gold." Potter is, of course, a teenage boy, and everybody knows how teenage boys think and feel. Anything sexual is banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate the claims that Harry and Fred have been getting dirty with each other. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate._

"How was she even allowed to include that in the newspaper?" Fred shouted angrily. Harry couldn't speak. How had she known? He and Fred always kept it secret, besides Ron, Hermione and George, of course. There was no way she could've heard, she wasn't even allowed in the grounds! Harry's eyes filled up with tears. Now everyone in the school would know. Fred was shaking angrily, tears glistening in his own eyes. Harry was furious. Just then, a hand was laid on his shoulder. Harry turned, hastily blinking to rid the tears from his eyes. Fred looked down at his shoes, his face screwed up. Harry was looking into the face of Professor McGonagall. She had a sad, almost sympathetic look on her face. "Mr Potter, you need to come with me. As do you, Mr Weasley. Mr Weasley, you may come too if you so wish." Harry, Fred and George stood and followed McGonagall out of the hall, ignoring the stares and the jeers coming from the Slytherin table. Harry was furious and hurt. How could she have known about him and Fred? How could she possibly have heard Fred say that he had never felt that way before? Next to him, Fred was shaking as he walked, his hands balled into fists. Harry could hear George whispering to his twin, but even his face was almost crimson. Harry stuffed his shaking hands into his pockets as McGonagall lead them up to her office. He had no idea what she was going to say, but he knew exactly what it was going to be about. 

When they entered the office, McGonagall conjured up four of her straight-backed chairs, and told them to sit. Harry sat next to Fred, with George on Fred's other side. McGonagall sat opposite them in the fourth chair, rather than behind her desk. "I don't want you to feel as though this is a telling-off. Which, for once, it isn't." She said, her voice surprisingly soothing and soft. Harry nodded, relaxing ever so slightly. Fred took a deep breath, then took Harry's still-shaking hand out of its pocket and held it. Harry could feel Fred shaking from head to foot and, when he looked up at the older boy, saw that he had his jaw clenched to try and stop his teeth chattering. Harry had never seen Fred in such a state. He looked angry, tense and, Harry was surprised, extremely hurt. Harry himself was still seething. Anger was boiling his blood, hurt making tears form in his green eyes. Although, as Fred squeezed Harry's hand, Harry saw him relax ever so slightly, and his breathing became a little more even. Harry was shaken from his thoughts by McGonagall clearing her throat. 

**Fred POV**

He grabbed Harry's hand, craving his touch. As soon as their skins made contact, calmness flooded him. It barely touched the anger, but he relaxed ever so slightly. He breathed a little more evenly, and glanced at George. All three of them were very pale, but George looked mainly worried. McGonagall cleared her throat. "As your Head of House, however, I must ask. Fred, Harry..." Fred didn't miss the use of their first names. "... have you been involved in any... _sexual acts_ with each other?" Fred was about to open his mouth to answer, but Harry got there first, answering in a high, shaking voice. "Yes. We can't deny it, the secret's out." The raven-haired boy added, mainly to Fred, who nodded. Fred cleared his throat before speaking. "Yeah, I guess." He said, his voice rough and shaky. Merlin, he felt so ashamed of himself. But he refused to cry, not in front of Harry and McGonagall. He forbid himself from going into that sort of vulnerable state. McGonagall nodded. "The article was right about one thing- those sort of things are, indeed, banned at Hogwarts. You will both serve detention every day next week." Fred nodded his head, tears creeping into the corner of his eyes. _No, Fred. Don't you dare cry._ He thought fiercely. Rita Skeeter has done it this time. She's broken him. Got to him in ways he had never expected. Fred couldn't help one of the tears dripping onto his and Harry's locked hands. Harry looked up at him, and Fred made eye contact. Harry's green eyes were swimming with tears. Fred nodded slightly, and Harry turned to McGonagall, all pretence gone as he spoke, his voice shaking wildly, close to tears. "H-how could she do that, Professor?" He said. God, he sounded so broken. "She's b-banned from the grounds, th-there's no way she could have o-overh-heard our conversations!" McGonagall looked between Fred and Harry sadly. "I know, Harry. I will find out how. Professor Dumbledore is, naturally, furious." That's when Harry's dam broke. He leaned heavily on Fred, crying his heart out. Fred rubbed his back soothingly, but his own teary eyes made contact with McGonagall's green ones. "You need to f-find her, P-Professor. She- she can't get away with this." He said, trying, and failing, to keep his voice steady. McGonagall looked at him sympathetically. "I understand, Fred. And I will find out how she is doing this if it's the last thing I do." Fred nodded. He heard George talking to McGonagall, but Fred wasn't listening. All of his attention was on the crying fourteen-year-old in his arms. Fred ran a hand through Harry's hair and kissed the back of his neck. "Hey... it's gonna be ok." He said softly in Harry's ear. "We're gonna find out how she did this, and we're going to get her back. I solemnly swear to you, Harry, we will. I will."

**Harry POV**

'I solemnly swear to you, Harry, we will. I will.' Fred's words stuck in his head as he made his way down to the dungeons for Potions. McGonagall had let them have the morning off, and the twins had got food from the kitchen for lunch, so this was Harry's first time facing any of the other Houses since that morning. His heart was racing, thundering in his chest like a drum. He was walking alone, Ron and Hermione had been forbidden from seeing him, Fred and George until after lunch. He heard the class before he saw them. The Slytherins were jeering at the Gryffindors, the Gryffindors doing their best to argue back. However, once Harry was in sight, all eyes went to him. Ron and Hermione immediately walked up to him and each grabbed an elbow, steering him to the back of the line. "Ignore them." Hermione hissed in his ear.   
"They'll try and get to you, mate, you can't let it." Ron said, equally quietly. Draco Malfoy just so happened to have a louder voice than any other whisperers. "Well well well. Look who we have here!" He announced loudly. "I noticed you missed morning lessons, Potter. Been too busy sucking on an ice pop?" Malfoy said, to jeers and laughter from the other Slytherins. "Sneaking off into the bathrooms for some alone time with your 'boyfriend'?" More laughs from the Slytherins. Harry spun around the face the blonde, dragging Ron and Hermione, who still had hold of his elbows, with him. "Glad to know that you pay that much attention to me to notice that I was missing, Malfoy." Harry snapped to applause from the Gryffindors. Ron and Hermione tightened their grips on Harry's elbows. "Let go." He hissed at them, to no avail. "Oh, sorry, Potter. But please, answer me this: why are you so glad I pay attention to you? I hate to be the one to break this to you, but I'm not gay. You can't break into my vault like you have Fred Weasley's, if you know what I mean. Not that there's much in there, to be honest." Harry wasn't aware of Ron letting go of his elbow. He was only aware of whipping out his wand, and screaming a hex at Malfoy. Except, four curses hit the blonde. Harry stood, panting, and looked around. "Who used bat bogey? It's worse than Ginny's." George said, stepping over Malfoy, who was laying in the floor looking like a half slug-half gillyweed sort of creature. He wasn't moving. "Me." Ron said, answering George's question. "When did you two get here?" Hermione asked the twins, who shrugged. "Just now." Fred said. "Moody wants you in his office, Harry. And you, Ron." George continued. As Harry and Ron broke away from the line, Snape came out of the classroom. Harry froze. Snape looked from Malfoy, to Harry, to Ron, to George, then to Fred, and back to Malfoy. "Inside. Now." He said, gesturing to the classroom. Fred grabbed hold of Harry, and George grabbed hold of Ron, who didn't even try and fight his brother off. "No can do, Snivellus. Harry and Ron are needed with Moody, and we have Charms. Goodbye!" With that, Fred and George pegged it, dragging a confused Ron and Harry with them. "GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" Harry heard Snape scream at their retreating backs, but the twins didn't even hesitate. They ran and ran all the way up to Moody's office where they arrived, red-faced and out of breath. "Ok, now we... have to stay... because otherwise... Snivellus will get us." Fred said, panting. "Snivellus? Where did... you get that from?" Ron asked, just as breathless as the twins. Fred tapped his nose, but George leaned over to whisper to Harry. "The Marauders gave us that one." He said, grinning as Fred knocked three times on Moody's office door. It swung open immediately. "You're late." He said, then moved out of the way so the three Weasleys and Harry could enter. "Waddya mean, we're late?" George asked as they all took seats opposite Moody's desk. "I mean, you're late. You see that?" He gestured towards a glass sphere. To Harry, it looked like one of the crystal balls they used in Divination. There were dark, shadowy shapes lurking behind the fog, they looked strangely humanlike. All three of them nodded. "It's one of my Dark Detectors. Let's me know if someone within a mile's radius is about to cast a hex, curse or jinx five minutes before they actually do. And, it tells me who's going to cast it and where. They're very rare, and very expensive." Fred and George sighed in understanding. "So that's why you got us to get him!" Fred said.   
"Wait. Weren't you two in Charms?" Harry asked, thoroughly confused by the situation. "Yeah. Moody came and got us from the classroom. He said it was urgent." George explained. Harry, still confused, turned to Moody. "Right. So, you got these two out of Charms, so they could fetch me and Ron, in order to stop us casting hexes and jinxes on Malfoy, but Fred and George were too slow?" Harry questioned. Moody smiled, the scars on his face stretching. "Yep. Now, you four all have detention. Congratulations. Mr Potter, I'll arrange for you to do yours with me. You three, on the other hand, can do your detentions with Snape." Moody said. Ron, Fred and George groaned. "Quit whining. In fact, I suppose all of you have been helping Potter prepare for the Third Task?" Ron and the twins nodded. "Right. Well, in that case, I'll arrange for you all to do your detentions with me." Fred and George grinned. Ron nudged Harry and smiled. Moody dismissed them and told them to go back to class. 

Fred and George separated from Ron and Harry on the second floor to head back to Flitwick's classroom, which left Harry and Ron to trudge miserably back down the the dungeons in silence. The silence was almost deafening, until Ron broke it. "You alright mate? The article and all... that's not fair." Harry nodded. Truth be told, he wasn't ok. That article had exposed him and Fred. It can't surely be legal. Despite this, Ron needed Harry to be ok. "Yeah, I'm good. Just another stupid thing Rita Skeeter exaggerated is all." Ron nodded and stared at his shoes all the way down to the dungeons. 

The rest of Potions passed by with little incident, only the odd hissed 'gonna be sucking another ice pole tonight, Potter?' or 'you and Weasley getting it down and dirty tonight?' from Malfoy's cronies, to which Harry barely responded. Harry and Ron were very pleased to see that Malfoy himself wasn't present in the class. As they showed up half way through the lesson, Snape told Harry and Ron to copy the potion's recipe word for word because they didn't have enough time to make the actual thing. Harry focused on the scratching of his quill, rather than the Slytherin's jeers. 

As soon as the bell rang, Harry shoved his stuff into his bag and all but ran out of the classroom. Harry, Hermione and Ron had Transfiguration, so they had to go up four floors. They were walking along a third floor corridor when they heard frantic shouts from behind them. "HARRY! HARRY! RON!" The trio turned round. Fred was hurrying towards them, bowling over some tiny Second Years in his rush. "Harry, it's George. He-he was hexed by Marcus Flint. Badly. I-I didn't know what to do." Harry grabbed hold of Fred's wildly waving hands. "Fred! Fred, listen to me. Where's George?" Fred shook his head.   
"In an empty classroom. He w-wouldn't let me take him to the Hospital Wing." Fred dashed off, leading the way to said empty classroom. When they arrived, George was barely conscious. He had pus-filled tumours all over his pale, sweating face, his arms covered in the same boils. He had a deep slash in his stomach that was bleeding profusely. "He-he told me to g-get you." Fred explained. Harry and Hermione hurried forwards, but Ron stayed back with Fred, both of their faces looking ashen. "H-Harry." George said weakly. "G-glad you're here. F-flint th-thought I was- was Fred." He said, barely above a whisper. Hermione's face was pale. "George, do you know what curse Flint used?" She asked, taking out her wand. "Y-yeah. The- the classic... the classic..." George fainted. Fred ran forwards. "What's happened? Harry, tell me!" He exclaimed, his face panicked. "It's ok, he's just fainted. What hex did Flint use?" Harry asked the redhead, who looked slightly more relieved. "Classic cutting hex and Bubotallegra." Fred explained. Hermione gasped. "Oh! I know the counter curses!" Fred and Harry stood back as Hermione spent a few minutes clearing all of the boils. His arms had a few scars, but his face was clear. "Fred, do you mind if I?" She asked Fred tentatively, glancing at George's stomach. It took a few seconds for Fred to catch on. "O-oh! N-no, not at all. Just- just heal him. Please." Hermione nodded and, still looking slightly sceptical, removed George's robe, took off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. The wound was horrible. It slashed all the way across his abs, deep, raw and bloody. Hermione gasped slightly, and Ron took a few steps back. Harry grimaced as Hermione began healing the wound, murmuring a sing-song incantation under her breath. When she was done, George was left with a pale pink line across his stomach. "It's not the best, but it'll do." She said, looking proud of herself. Just then, George's blue eyes fluttered open, inspecting his healed body. "Brilliant. Thanks." He said, grinning up at Hermione. Harry and Fred chuckled, both of them helping George stand. Still shirtless, George shifted his weight tenderly between each foot, testing his balance. He barely wobbled. "Fantastic. Can't wait to see the look on Flint's face when I casually stroll into History of Magic." He said, grinning. Fred laughed. "Yeah, you should've seen the look on his face when you collapsed, he thought he'd done you in good and proper." George magically cleaned his uniform and put it back on, with a little help from Fred. Still chuckling, the three Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione left the classroom. 

_It's been a weird sort of day._ Harry thought as he walked through the dungeons that evening. 

The Third Task was barely three weeks away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first book. I just want your opinion on how it is so far? I’m no JK Rowling, but I’m trying to make this as Harry Potter like as possible :)


	11. The Third Task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the last chapter of GOF, and it’s time for the Third Task...

**Fred POV**

Harry was pale, and shaking. Fred could feel him shuddering as they sat at the breakfast table, the morning of the Third and final Triwizard Tournament Task. Fred was nervous, and had a strong feeling he too was pale. An uneasy feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach from the moment he woke up that morning. Harry would be facing unimaginable dangers in that Maze, creatures and jinxes that were made to be challenging for a seventeen year old witch or wizard. Merlin knows what Hagrid had put in that Maze, he thinks dragons are cute and cuddily! On the positive side of things, Fred knew that Harry was well-prepared. He had mastered both offensive and defensive hexes, jinxes and Charms, learnt the names of many creatures that could be considered dangerous, and had improved massively on his weaker points such as riddles and recognising bewitched objects. Despite all this, Fred still wasn't feeling too confident. Harry's nerves have never got the better of him, but Fred seemed to be the only one that noticed the change in his posture, or the way he holds his wand, when he is nervous, which affects his aim. "Oi, Fred, wake up!" George said, elbowing him in the ribs. "Ouch! Sorry, dosed off." He said with a forced, lopsided grin. George gave him a short, suspicious look. _Tell me later_. Fred nodded slightly, so only George would notice. Their 'twin speak' had its uses. Meanwhile, Harry was shaking more and more by the minute. "You good?" Fred asked quietly, nudging him slightly. Harry nodded stiffly. "Yeah, just nervous." He said with a small smile. "I'm sure you'll do great, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "You're really well-prepared, you'll only have to focus a bit more than you're used to." Harry, again, nodded; his face turned a slight green colour. "Yeah, you'll be great, mate. You're already in first place with Cedric, so you're ahead before you've even started!" Ron said, smiling at the younger boy. Fred grabbed Harry's shaking hand. "Yeah, he'll be fine. POTTER FOR THE WIN!" Fred shouted as loud as he could, yanking Harry's hand victoriously into the air. This was met with cheers from the Gryffindor and about half of Ravenclaw tables, polite applause from the Hufflepuffs, and boos from the Slytherins. "Mr Weasley, however much you want to encourage Mr Potter, that is not necessary." McGonagall said as she walked past, although her face ghosted a smile. Fred grinned goofily at her, nerves momentarily disappeared. "Sorry, Minnie. Harry here is a little nervous, that's all." McGonagall almost almost smiled, despite Fred calling her 'Minnie'. Once she had walked away, Fred turned back to Harry and kissed him on top of his head. Thankfully, the raven-haired boy wasn't shaking as much, and his face had regained some colour. "Relax, Harrykins." He said, giving Harry's shoulders an encouraging shake. "Eat some breakfast, you'll need all the energy you can get. Also, I don't care what you say, you're not going to class today. We're gonna practise all day." Harry nodded, smiling thankfully at Fred. "No, you can't! You'd get in so much trouble!" Hermione exclaimed. Fred wagged his finger and grinned at her. "Actually, Hermyown, we'd only get told off if we got caught." He said, flashing the map and the cloak that was tucked under his shirt. Harry smiled a little. "And what about when teachers notice that Harry's missing from lessons?" She said. "That's where the real fun begins." George said. Fred looked over at his twin as the latter lifted his school bag onto the table, opened it, and showed Hermione what was inside. "NO WAY. Absolutely no way! You can't! If anyone finds out... you'd be expelled!" Ron gawped in amazement at the inside of George's bag. "You three are mental." Fred, George and Harry just grinned. 

Half an hour later, the five of them were stood in an empty classroom. Ron looked amazed, Hermione had an unreadable expression, Harry looked totally dumbfounded and George... George looked exactly like Harry. "This is weird. I'm too short. No offence, Harry." George said, in his now over-large robes. Fred snickered. "You look beautiful, darling." He said to his twin, who glared at him with a small smile. Harry gave George a set of his own school robes. "You'll need those. You'll have to deal with your own shoes, though. I don't have a spare pair." George took the robes and nodded. Hermione left the room as George started to change out of his school robes. He undid the first three buttons of his shirt, then hesitated. "Harry, are you sure?" Fred looked over at the real Harry, who looked slightly apprehensive. "Take the shirt off. I wanna check something." George complied, and Harry walked around so he could look at the back. "Yep, you're good." He said with a bright smile. Fred gave Harry a curious look as the latter took his hand. "I've never seen my back before. It's weird." Ron and the twins laughed as George put on Harry's robes. 

"Right, you remember?" Fred looked at George, who was now identical to Harry. "Yes, Freddie, I know. Take one glass full every hour. I'm well aware of how Polyjuice Potion works, thank you very much." Hermione shook her head. "You're mental. Both of you. Mental!" With that, she grabbed Ron by the elbow and left promptly for Charms. "I should probably go too. Good luck." With that, George ran out after them. "It's so weird. It's like having an identical twin! Sorry." Harry said, looking sheepishly down at his shoes. Fred ruffled his hair. _Merlin, he looks adorable when he does that_. "Don't worry about it, Harrykins. It's not exactly a secret that me and George are identical." Harry smirked up at him. 

By the time lessons had finished, Harry and Fred were sweating, and very, very drained. Harry was practically falling asleep in his chair. "You, my love," Fred said; "need to go and get some sleep before dinner. Don't want you tired for tonight. Go on, have a couple of hours." Harry nodded and, without arguing, left the room. Sighing, Fred got up and followed. 

"Mr Potter!" McGonagall exclaimed form behind them, five minutes into Harry and Fred's slow trek back to Gryffindor Tower. They were holding hands, and awkwardly turned around to face their Head of House. "How did you get here so fast?" Fred was confused, and voiced it. "I mean, Mr Weasley, that I saw Potter, barely a minute ago, up in Gryffindor Tower!" Fred smirked.   
"How did you get here so fast, Professor?" McGonagall shook her head. "I Flooed from the Tower to the classroom just down the hall. Now, tell me, how did you get here so fast?" She said. Fred gulped. For once, he couldn't come up with a lie. "Well?" They weren't getting out of this. Harry tried a feeble 'we Flooed?' But, naturally, it didn't work. "What is going on here? Two minutes ago, you were in Gryffindor Tower with Miss Granger and Mr Weasley!" Fred gulped again, willing his vocal chords to work. _Screw it_. "George has been taking Polyjuice Potion all day to look like Harry, so that me and the real Harry can prep for tonight. He was still rusty on some stuff." McGonagall's mouth went so thin it looked as though she didn't have one, and she was pale. Harry gave Fred and incredulous look, but tightened the grip on his hand nonetheless. "How... DARE YOU?" McGonagall shouted, making both boys jump. "That is an illegal potion for underage wizards, and you are breaking at least three school rules, not to mention half of the Triwizard Tournament rules! That warrants expulsion, at the very least!" Fred hung his head, fighting the throbbing in his cheeks that told him tears were on the way. He couldn't be expelled. "However." Fred looked up. Harry had a stoic look on his face, but McGonagall's hadn't softened at all. "I will be taking 100 points each off of Gryffindor house. You are both banned from flying for the rest of the school year, and you both have detention every night for the rest of term." Fred and Harry nodded, too astounded for speech. They were very, very lucky. "Very well. I will be collecting your brooms tomorrow morning." With that, McGonagall turned on her heel and walked back down the corridor. Fred let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Guess old Minnie likes us after all, huh?" Harry nodded, then the two proceeded up to Gryffindor Tower. 

It was pleasant to see Bill and Mum, and both had encouraged Harry, reassuring him that he was going to do brilliantly. "Yeah, he'll be great." Fred said, turning Harry's head and kissing him. Bill snickered, and Mum smiled warmly. "I'm so proud of you both, you know that?" She said, pulling them both into a hug, right in the middle of the Common Room. "Yeah, you two are great together." Bill said with a smile. All too soon, McGonagall came to take Harry down to the Quidditch Pitch. It was time for the Third Task. Fred and Harry followed McGonagall out of the portrait hole, leaving Bill and Mum with George, Ron and Hermione, who all wishes Harry look as they departed. "Now, Potter, I'm afraid Mr Weasley can not come down with us. He will have to venture down with the rest of the school." Harry and Fred both opened their mouths to argue, but McGonagall raised her hand sharply. "No excuses! Mr Weasley, please go back to the Common Room." It was a pointless argument. Sighing in reluctant defeat, Fred pulled Harry into a firm hug. "You'll be amazing. It doesn't matter if you win or not, just finish the Task, okay?" He whispered. Fred felt Harry nod against his chest. The younger boy's muscles felt tight, and he was tense. "Harry, Relax. You know what to do. You're gonna be ok, I promise." After he felt another nod, Fred held Harry's at arms length, then kissed him. Their mouths collided, moving against one another, and Fred never wanted to stop, he never wanted to let go. McGonagall cleared her throat. The two boys slowly parted. "Be careful," Fred grabbed Harry as he stood and pulled him into another deep but quick kiss before releasing him. Nodding, Harry cupped his face and pressed one last quick kiss to his lips before going to after McGonagall. "Good luck, Harrykins." Fred said, giving Harry one last wave before heading back into the Common Room. The feeling of unease had returned. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Third and final Task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin!" Bagman announced with boyish enthusiasm, his voice magically magnified throughout the Quidditch Pitch. Bagman reminded the spectators of the current scorings (Harry and Cedric 1st, Krum 2nd and Fleur 3rd). Fred's ear was going numb, as George was screaming encouragement at Harry, but he ignored it. He was terrified. His hands were shaking, nerves rattling his very core. Harry didn't look much better. Fred could see him shaking from here. He caught Harry's eye, and grinned at him while George screamed still louder. At long last, Bagman blew his whistle, and the two Hogwarts champions entered the Maze. Fred saw Harry shoot a backwards glance at him as the hedges closed. George sat back in his seat and sipped on his water, replenishing his vocal chords. George applauded politely as Krum and Fleur entered, but Fred shifted nervously in his seat and swallowed. All the Champions were now in the Maze. 

The first time red sparks shot into the air, Fred's heart nearly stopped. It was impossible for Bagman to commentate what was happening within the Maze, so Fred could only wait. About ten minutes after the sparks had been shot up, Fleur Delacour was brought out of the hedges by McGonagall. She was barely conscious, there were scratches all over her body, and she was extremely pale. Fred watched with half relief as Bill rushed over to help McGonagall. Barely twenty minutes after that, Krum was brought out by Mad-Eye. He looked dazed, confused and terrified all at the same time. Fred swallowed thickly. If Fleur and Krum couldn't manage it... Fred couldn't even imagine what Harry was facing within the dark depths of the Maze, and the uneasy feeling in his stomach was doing nothing to settle those nerves. Yet, there was a positive. The Tournament was going to be a Hogwarts win. As this was realised by the vast number of students, excited voices from all three schools broke out, guessing and betting whether it would be Harry or Cedric. Fred just sat and stared at the place where Harry had entered he Maze. His hands and feet were getting number by the minute. Glancing up at the sky, he realised it was getting dark. 

It was night time. Refreshments had been brought out to all of the spectators. Soup, noodles, and hot drinks were also being dished out. George sat with a cup of half-drank hot chocolate warming his freezing hands, but Fred had refused the lot. He felt too empathetic towards Harry, who had no option of food or drink in that Maze, neither hot or cold. It was amazing he'd lasted this long. Fred was just wondering what was happening within the Maze, when the blue glow of a Portkey lit up the stands, blinding everyone that was used to the semi-darkness. 

Fred screamed. He screamed loud. It was Harry who was clutching the Cup. "YES! YES! HE WON, HE WON! HARRY WON!" Pride, love, admiration, happiness, worry and excitement flooded through Fred's body all at once. Tumultuous applause sounded from all around the stadium. Bill was screaming his head off next to George, Molly applauding and crying on Bill's other side. Ginny, Hermione and Ron were yelling and punching the air, the two girls almost in tears. Fred and George had almost screamed themselves hoarse, but came to an abrupt halt. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. Harry was holding onto something... a yellow fabric. Then Fred saw it. Cedric's body lying motionless on the ground, his eyes stared without seeing, **(A/N- I'm sorry)** his face pale, the body in general showing minimal harm. Fred rushed down the steps, onto the Quidditch Pitch, through the arms of teachers trying to half-heartedly stop him, over to Harry and flung his arms around his boyfriend's thin, shaking body. Harry turned to face him. "Fred- he's back." Fred stomach lurched. "W-what? Harry, you can tell me!" Harry was openly crying, still clutching to Cedric's robes. "He's back. Fred, he's back. Voldemort's back." Fred gasped, so did everyone else who heard. Fred pulled Harry into a hug. Harry finally let go of Cedric's robes, and clung onto the back of Fred's instead. Fred knew there was no chance of calming Harry, he just let him cry. Dumbledore was talking to Fudge; he had obviously heard Harry's statement. Amos Diggory had been escorted down the steps, but Fred paid no attention. He held onto Harry tightly, trying his best not to look at Cedric's body. Out of the corner of his eye, Fred saw McGonagall coming towards them. "Fred, what has happened? I heard Harry say something about Voldemort, what was it?" Fred gulped. Harry hadn't heard what McGonagall said; he still cling onto Fred like a lifeline. Fred cleared his throat. "He's back, Professor. He killed Cedric." Harry grabbed another fistful of Fred's robes. Fred ran his fingers through the jet-black hair as McGonagall walked over to join Dumbledore. People began filing out of the stadium. Most girls were crying, Fleur Delacour was in total hysterics; she had to be almost carried out by madam Maxine. Krum had looks of sadness and anger mingled on his face. Soon enough, it was just the Weasleys, the Diggorys, Harry, and the Hogwarts Professors left in the stadium.

Once he had calmed down enough to move, Moody escorted Harry inside. Fred, however, still couldn't move. He knelt on the floor, in the same position he had been left in. Amos Diggory was sobbing loudly at Cedric's head, a couple of professors trying and failing to comfort the distraught man. Fred couldn't believe it. Harry must have seen and encountered unimaginable horrid in the Maze alone, but then to go on and fight a newly-powerful Voldemort and escape with only a leg injury? It would be an absolute miracle if the boy didn't need psychiatric help. Fred knew he would if he'd gone through what Harry had been through, and he still didn't know the whole story. Bill, Mum and George walked over to Fred. George knelt down beside him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Freddie... Freddie what is it?" George helped Fred stand. His legs felt like jelly, nearly supporting his weight. He turned to look at his family with tears burning in his eyes. "He's back. Voldemort's back and he killed Cedric." Molly gasped, tears glistening in her already puffy eyes, Bill bowed his head, and George nodded. "Are you sure?" Molly asked. "Yes. Harry- he saw him. He fought him. And beat him. Again." His voice broke. George pulled him into a hug. Fred held on to the back of George's robes, much like Harry had held onto his own barely minutes ago. George rubbed circles on his back, whispering comfortingly into Fred's ear. Molly went back to the school after saying quiet, reassuring words to Fred and George. Bill followed her shortly after. 

Three days later, once Harry had recounted the full story twice, after word of what had happened had spread, after it had been altered to fit rumours, after rumours had gone flying round, it was time for Cedric's funeral. Harry was absent from said funeral, as was Fred. They sat in the Sixth Year dorm all day, talking about Quidditch, the Yule Ball, their plans for the future, everything. When daylight turned to dusk, and noise could be heard from the Common Room, Harry took his Triwizard winnings off of George's bedside table, and threw them at Fred. Fred held them in his hands, totally gobsmacked. He was holding one thousand galleons. "Harry- no. No, those are yours." He threw them to Harry, but they came straight back at him. "I don't want it. Hell, I don't need it. You two take it, and get inventing. We'll all be needing a few laughs from now on." Fred smiled. He leapt over to George's bed, and tackled his boyfriend, covering Harry's neck in love-bites and kisses. "You-are-one-amazing-boyfriend-and-I-fricking-love you!" He said excitedly between kisses. They broke away, both grinning. Harry smiled sheepishly in the mirror at his love-bites. "Thanks, Fred. God knows what your Mum's gonna day now!" He said, but with a small smile. Fred laughed out loud. "Ha! Yeah, she'll be really pleased!"

Fred knew there was a fight ahead, so did Harry. But they were going to fight together, until the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, as mentioned in the summary, this is the last chapter of GOF. I will be carrying it on into OOTP, so it’s not over just yet.


	12. Dementor Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one switches POV a lot, so bare with.

"What do you mean, he's been attacked by Dementors?" Fred roared, flipping his chair over as he angrily stood up. "I thought the Ministry had total control over them! What the hell are they doing, sending them after a fifteen year old? Harry Potter, no less!" Fred felt George lay a hand on his shoulder, but he threw it off. He didn't want comfort right now. "In a Muggle town, as well! Merlin knows what could've happened! Surely the Ministry knew a couple of Dementors had wandered into the middle of Surrey?" He continued to shout, anger flooded his veins. Remus and Mad-Eye stood on the other side of the long table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, and they had made an attempt at delivering the news that Harry had been attacked by a pair of Dementors calmly. Fred, however, had felt his blood boil as soon as he heard it. Anger thundered through his veins, gradually filling him up the more he thought about it. To make matters worse, a blue light came soaring in through the wall and onto the table, where it formed the shape of a lynx. "Kingsley" Remus said quietly. The lynx opened its mouth and spoke in the low, soothing voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt. 

" _Harry been expelled from Hogwarts. He cast a Patronus. Dumbledore trying to sort things out with Fudge. _"__

__There was silence. It was a silence that spoke volumes. Harry had been expelled. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had been expelled from Hogwarts. His boyfriend. "No." Fred said quietly, sinking back into the chair that someone, probably George, had stood upright. He laid his elbows on the table, and put his face in his arms. "No, no, no, no. Not Harry, not Harry." He could feel the telltale burning behind his eyes and the lump in his throat. _No. _He told himself. _You won't cry _. Ginny was in the room. So was Ron, Hermione, Bill, George, Mum, Remus, May-Eye, Sirius Black, Tonks and Snape. No. He wouldn't cry in front of all of those, especially Snape. Still, the lump in his throat grew, and he found himself gasping for air, struggling to hold back the tears that were now swimming in his eyes._____ _

______Fred sat up, hands covering his face, and took a deep breath. "No, not Harry. Please, not Harry." He whispered into his palms. Fred felt George weave his arm around his shoulders as the first tears leaked out of his right eye. "Freddie, did you hear? Dumbledore's sorting it out." But Fred knew that even Dumbledore couldn't go against the Ministry's decisions to expel a student. Fred thought about how Harry must be feeling. He'd just been attacked by Dementors, then had to face his aunt and uncle, only to get home and be told he'd been expelled from Hogwarts for protecting himself. The boy never got a break. First the Tournament, then Cedric, then You-Know-Who, and now this. Another tear leaked out of his eye and dropped onto his shoulder. "Dumbledore won't let them expel him." George murmured, his head resting on Fred's shoulder. "He'll put a stop to it, he's Dumbledore for Merlin's sake." But the Ministry is going against Dumbledore and Harry. Nothing Dumbledore says it does will change Fudge's mind. Fred sniffed loudly as more tears leaked from his eyes. Another bright blue light, another Patronus. Fred screwed his eyes tight shut. He didn't want to see._ _ _ _ _ _

______" _Doesn't look good. Fudge going against Dumbledore. He doesn't believe the story of the Dementors. Dung Disapperated before it happened. No witnesses. _"___ _ _ _ _ _

________Fred sniffed loudly again. Sadness was overwhelming his anger now. Harry really was going to be expelled form Hogwarts. He'd never sit his OWLs, he'd never walk through the halls with Fred again, he'd never graduate, he'd never learn to defend himself... the dam broke. Fred heaved a huge breath, then lowered his hands, tears flowing down his cheeks. Most people averted their eyes for his sake, but Mad-Eye's magical eye stayed on him. So did the eyes of Ginny, George, Mum, Ron and Snape. Fred took another deep breath, then stood up. George stood up a second later. "I'm- I'm going to our- our room." After that, he swiftly left the room and went up to the third floor, where his, George's and Harry's Room was._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Fred heard George close the door quietly behind him. Without turning to face his twin, Fred collapsed on his enlarged bed, big enough for himself and Harry. With a pang, he realised he might have to shrink it soon. He laid face first, tears soaking his pillow. Anger had returned, but he was angry at Dung this time, as well as Fudge. How was the Minister for Magic so blind to see that Harry and Dumbledore were telling the truth? Why had Dung Disapperated at such an important moment? Fred could feel himself shaking with the anger and sadness that now filled him. He felt the bed sink as George sat down on the end of it, and laid down next to him. Fred stayed where he was, lying face down on the pillows. He screwed his face up in anguish. _This isn't fair. _He thought childishly. _Harry didn't even do anything damn wrong. He protected himself, for Merlin's sake! _The pillow slowly got more and more wet under his face. Fred felt George wrap an arm round his waist, trying to pull him into a hug. Fred resisted; it was Harry that needed comfort, not him. George was persistent and soon, Fred wiggled into George's side, burying his face in the front of his twin's shirt. George rubbed comforting circles on his back. "He's not going to be expelled." He murmured quietly. "Dumbledore won't let Harry be expelled. He's going to come back to Hogwarts, sit his OWLs, his NEWTs, then graduate. Just you wait." Fred nodded, then fell into a deep sleep against his brother's chest._____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________George POV_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________As Fred's breathing finally evened out into a pattern George recognised as sleep, he thought. _Harry can't be expelled, can he? _George, like everyone else, had his doubts. Slowly and carefully, he laid Fred down on the bed and covered him with the blanket before heading back downstairs to the kitchen, where Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Bill and Mum, along with several Order members that included ex-convict Sirius Black, were waiting silently and anxiously. Mum perked up when George entered the room, rushing over to him and hugging him. "Oh, Freddie, are you alright? Where's George?" Had it been any other situation, George would have smiled. In this case, however, he didn't. "Right here. Fred's asleep, Mum." Molly released him and looked into his eyes, but George broke the contact quickly. He couldn't let his mother see the sadness in his eyes, nor could he see it reflected in hers. Molly pulled him into another hug. This time, George held onto her as well. He would never admit this to anyone other than himself and Fred, but he needed his mother's comfort right now. Fred was stressed and upset, Harry was expelled, Mum was trying to help everyone, and George was right in the middle of it all; trying to reassure Fred and keep his own cool at the same time. He felt a couple of tears drip from his eyes, and George buried his face in the crook between his mother's neck and shoulder. Molly held him tighter as she realised that her prankster son was crying. She held him, and George cried. He was so worried about Fred and Harry, so concerned about whether or not they'll be able to be together, so scared that Harry would be attacked by You-Know-Who again this year. All he could do was cling like a child to his mother and cry until his knees gave out, and he was sitting in a heap, his mother's arms around him.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________McGonagall POV_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________As she watched the scene unfold, Severus leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I take it we never breathe a word of this?" Despite being surprised at the ex-student's words, Minerva nodded. "Indeed." She whispered back. She looked around at the other Weasleys. Bill was comforting Ginny, who was clinging tightly to the front of Bill's shirt, Ron watched his older brother and mother, looking uncomfortable. Hermione appeared to be reading a book, although her eyes weren't moving. Remus, Tonks, and Mad-Eye were deep in conversation, their eyes sometimes glancing over at the Weasleys on the floor. Sirius was nowhere to be seen. Minerva wasn't surprised. Sirius is Harry's godfather, after all. Severus stood and walked over to the three in conversation, joining in. Minerva went over to Ron and Hermione, who both looked up at her. "Are you two alright?" She asked. The two Gryffindors exchanged a sceptical look. "Yes." Said Hermione. "We will be, once we know Harry is ok. Thank you, Professor." Minerva nodded in acknowledgment. She admired the bravery of these two, almost as much as she admired Harry's. They'd been through a lot with him, and stayed loyal the whole way. She gave them a small smile just as another Patronus soared through the window._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________George POV_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________He saw the blue light through his closed eyes. Opening them, he saw the Patronus forming on the table. Standing up so quickly he surprised his mother, he walked over to it. All eyes were now on the lynx shape as it opened its mouth and spoke:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________Potter not been expelled yet, pending a hearing that will occur shortly. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________George released a breath he didn't know he was holding. _He's not been expelled. _He shouted a laugh, grinned, and ran up the stairs three at a time, literally crashing into Sirius on the way there. "Whoa, George! What is it?" George ignored the slight redness of Sirius' eyes as he spoke. "Harry's not been expelled yet! He has to go to a hearing, Mad-Eye, Lupin, Tonks and some others are going to get him!" Sirius laughed and pulled George into a hug as though it was the Weasley's work that got Harry unexpelled. "Thank you, for bringing me this WONDERFUL news!" Sirius released George, who ran the rest of the way up to his room.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Banging the door open, he bounded over to, and jumped on, Fred. "Ow! George! What the bloody hell are you doing?" George scrambled over his twin, and sat next to him. "Harry's not been expelled!" Fred looked up from untangling the covers. "What?" He choked. George's face cracked into a grin. "Harry's not been expelled. He's got to go to a hearing, that'll be the verdict decider." Fred's face expanded into a grin identical to his own. "That's- that's amazing! Yes! HARRY'S NOT BEEN EXPELLED!" He exclaimed gleefully, jumping up and down on the bed like a five year old. George did the same until their mother came in and scolded them, although she had a slight smile on her face. Both Fred and George grinned at her, before mending the broken bed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Fred POV_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________George was hiding something. Fred didn't know what it was, but George wasn't telling him something. At the moment, however, he couldn't care less. He just sat on the newly mended bed and grinned, playing game after game of exploding snap with George. That was only for about two hours, as they were stopped from playing by the arrival of people. Curious, the twins gathered at the top of the stairs and peered down. Fred only saw the top of people's heads. There was Mad-Eye, Remus and Tonks. _Strange, thought they were already here. _A couple of others, including Kingsley; then a mop of black hair easily recognisable to the Weasley twins.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________"HARRY!" Fred bounded down the stairs as Harry turned to look at him, utter surprise melting into happiness at the sight of his lover. Fred crashed into Harry's waiting arms. "Oh Merlin, you're here!" He exclaimed happily, holding Harry at arms length, then kissing him. They collided, their mouths working as one, tongues fighting for dominance, then they hugged again. Fred held Harry close to his chest, breathing in his scent, feeling his warmth, taking in everything he had missed since they bid goodbye at King's Cross. Fred ran his hand through Harry's short, raven hair at the memory:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________They ran through the barrier together, holding onto each other's trolleys and hands. As they emerged from platform 9 3/4, Fred immediately spotted Harry's family. Smirking at the memory of the Tongue-Tongue-Toffee, he and Harry walked over to them. Fred smiled brightly at Dudley, who was cowering unsuccessfully behind his mother. Knowing the Dursley's dislike for 'abnormalities', he grinned mischievously before kissing Harry full on the mouth. When they broke apart thirty seconds later, Harry grinned at his relatives. "Oh yeah. This is my boyfriend, Fred Weasley." The Dursleys just stared at them, looks of horror on their faces. ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Fred and Harry slowly broke apart as Molly cleared her throat. "Harry. You'll have to wait until after the meeting's finished for dinner. Fred, George, take him and the other's back upstairs, will you?" The twins nodded, and followed Ron, Hermione, and Ginny upstairs. Fred lead the way into their room. Ginny and the others took seats in chairs, while George, Fred, and Harry took seats on their respective beds. "So, where exactly are we?" Harry asked. Fred gulped. He hadn't expected this to come so soon. "Order of the Phoenix Headquarters." He explained. "Dumbledore formed it when they first fought You-Know-Who." Harry nodded, then looked unsure. "So, how come I've gone all summer without a scrap of news, while you lot have been here together with this Order?" Fred could hear the irritation in his voice. "We wanted to tell you mate. Honestly, we did." Ron said, looking slightly nervous. "Only Professor Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't tell you anything." Hermione said. Fred felt a rush of affection for her. He wouldn't have dared to straight up say that Harry's face. "What? Dumbledore said that?" Fred grabbed Harry's hand, almost feeling the anger radiating off of the younger man. "Let go, Fred!" Harry shouted, jerking his hand away from Fred's. Fred felt a pang of hurt at Harry's words. "You're supposed to be my boyfriend! How could you not tell me? Since when have you two listened to rules?" Harry continued to shouted, pointing his finger angrily at the twins. Fred bowed his head, hurt at what was being said. Ginny gave a slight sniff over the word 'boyfriend' but she didn’t say anything. George spoke first. "This is different, Harry. We want-"  
"HOW?" Harry's voice rose considerably. "HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT TO SCHOOL? YOU DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT SCHOOL RULES! DUMBLEDORE MAKES THE RULES THERE, DUMBLEDORE MAKES THE RULES NOW. TELL ME HOW IT'S DIFFERENT, GEORGE, I HAVE ALL NIGHT!" Fred looked up. "Because we had no choice. Every owl we sent, it was read before we sent it, Harry." He explained, looking calmly into Harry's angry eyes. "SO WHAT? SO WHAT? I'VE GONE ALL SUMMER WITHOUT ANYTHING, HAVING TO LAY ON THE FLOOR OUTSIDE THE WINDOW TO LISTEN TO THE MUGGLE NEWS INCASE ANYTHING WEIRD CAME UP! YOU LOT KNOW ALL THE GOINGS-ON, WHILE I'M TRAPPED IN PRIVET DRIVE WITH NOTHING!" Fred shied away again, slightly scared of Harry's outburst. "I'M THE ONE THAT WATCHED VOLDEMORT'S RETURN, I'M THE ONE WHO SAW CEDRIC GET KILLED, I'M THE ONE WHO FOUGHT THE DARK LORD OFF AGAIN! BUT NO! LET'S KEEP HARRY IN THE DARK WHILE HE WAITS FOR TERM TO START! LET'S NOT TELL HARRY ANYTHING, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS THE ONE WHO STOPPED THE DARK LORD FROM KILLING EVERYONE!" Fred saw a red glint in Harry's eyes, and perked up. "Every time we wrote anything, even Sirius, it was read through by Dumbledore before we sent it. Even- even the... weird ones." His face went red at admitting he had wrote graphic letters to Harry in front of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Before now, George, Harry, and Dumbledore were the only ones that knew. Ron went red at the ears, Hermione blushed, and Ginny looked utterly disgusted. _Merlin, they grow up too fast _. Harry also blushed at this. "Dumbledore really did that?" Fred nodded.  
"Yeah. We actually wrote to you to explain everything. It took us ages, we wrote it all out on three roles of parchment. Three! Dumbledore came down here and warned us not to try again, or there would be consequences. He had this... look in his eye that, no word of a lie, had us sprinting back up the stairs in seconds." Harry smiled sheepishly, then hugged Fred. "I'm sorry for shouting." He said, his voice muffled by the material of Fred's shirt. Fred smiled. "It's ok. We all have to let it out. Now, let's not worry about that, and go get some dinner. I'm starving." Relieved at Harry's calmness, Fred remembered something. "Wait. Forgot to tell you. Don't mention anything about Percy at dinner." He said, turning mid-walk to fav Harry, who looked confused. "Why?" Ron moved closer to them so Harry could see him. "Because dad will break whatever he's holding, mum will cry and these two will leave the room." He said. Fred and George explained the argument between Their dad and brother, how Percy had walked out, how he'd refused any contact, despite the many times mum and dad had tried. He'd basically disowned them all, and it made Fred angry just thinking about it. After Fred received a brief hug of support from Harry, they all went downstairs to see if the meeting was over. ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Dinner was quite a fun exchange. Tonks kept changing her appearance as usual, leaving Ginny and Hermione in fits of laughter, Fred, George, and Harry were laughing until their sides hurt with Mundungus, and Sirius watched them with a happy glint in his eye. There was an argument where Harry had demanded answers, and Molly had tried to shoo everyone underage out of the room. Ron and Hermione ended up staying because Harry would tell them anyway, and the twins were overage. Ginny reluctantly left the table, but Fred heard George whisper the location of their Extendable Ears to his sister. "Top shelf in my wardrobe." Fred smiled as Ginny winked at George. Remus explained to Harry about the Ministry attacking him and Dumbledore, at which point Harry had grabbed Fred's hand under the table. "Fourteen years ago, Voldemort had huge numbers in his command. Witches, Wizards, and all sorts of Dark Creatures." Sirius said. Harry tensed slightly as Mad-Eye cleared his throat. "We believe, that Voldemort may be after something... something he didn't have last time." Annoyingly, this was the point where his mother decided to call the meeting to a halt, and cleared everybody from the room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Later that evening, they listened with Extendable Ears to the conversation the adults were having downstairs.  
"... he's not James, Sirius!" Mum. Fred glanced over at Harry, who smiled at him reassuringly.   
"He's not your son." They heard Sirius say.   
"He's as good as. He's dating Fred, if you hadn't already been informed!" Fred smiled at his mother's words. Saying Harry was as good as her son touched him, he couldn't imagine how it made Harry feel. He closed his eyes and continued to listen, taking hold of Harry's smaller hand.   
"I had, as a matter of fact, Molly. In case you hadn't noticed, Harry-" the audio was cut off suddenly. Fred was confused until he heard Hermione speak.   
"Bad Crookshanks!" Reopening his eyes, Crookshanks was eating the Extendable Ear. "I hate your cat, Hermione." George snickered as he pulled up the string. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Laying in bed that night, Fred looked over at George while Harry was in the bathroom. "You knew he was coming, didn't you?" He could practically feel George's smile. "Yep." His twin said. Fred sighed. "And you didn't think to tell me?" George snickered as though he was trying not to laugh. "Nope!" Fred smiled too at George's mischievousness. "Thought it'd be a nice surprise."  
"What would be a nice surprise?" Harry asked as he entered the room. "What I have in store for you tonight." George groaned and covered his head with his pillows, so that his voice was muffled when he next spoke. "At least put strong silencing charms around your bed!" Fred did so, then dragged a grinning Harry under the covers._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all those also reading this story on my Wattpad (ThatDudeThing), I’m currently writing the next chapter, but ya proving to be very difficult.


	13. The Hearing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the day of Harry’s hearing. This time, view it from Fred’s POV...

**Fred POV**

He was woken up on the day of his hearing by the bright sunlight and Harry getting dressed. Blinking against the light, Fred propped himself up on his elbow. "Well, that's always a welcome sight." He said, grinning. "Sorry. Tried not to wake you." Harry said as he stepped into his jeans. "'S'fine, Harrykins, I don't mind being woken up by your beautiful arse." Fred winked at his lover, who blushed profusely. "Will you two keep it down? I'm tryna sleep over here!" Came George's muffled voice from the next bed. "Sorry, Georgie!" Fred grinned. Talking from experience, waking George up early in the morning was not a good idea. The victim would probably end up with a dung bomb, pillow or sometimes a fist being thrown at them. Fred couldn't count on six pairs of hands how many times Percy, Charlie and Ron have come to terms with early morning George. Turning back to Harry, Fred lowered his voice to a whisper. "You feeling alright?" He asked, plastering a serious look on his face. Today was the day of Harry's hearing. Fred was nervous, very nervous, so he couldn't even start to imagine how Harry felt. "Not as bad as I thought I would. There's a thing that muggles say: 'truth will out' or something. Basically, I'm the one telling the truth. If I play my cards right, it'll all go well." Fred nodded. Harry had a strong argument, but his father had mentioned that the hearing was to be done by he Minister of Magic. "Just tell your story. Only tell facts. Don't even think about making anything up. Tell it how it was, and stick to it." Harry smiled and pulled Fred closer. Just before their lips touched, Fred pulled away. "I haven't brushed my teeth yet." Harry smirked and increased the pressure on the back of Fred's head, forcing their faces closer. "I don't care." Their lips touched, and Fred felt Harry relax. Sitting up, he pulled Harry into his lap and hugged him tightly, pressing kisses on his neck. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Harry sighed. "We've been through this, Fred. You can't. You'd just have to sit in your Dad's office for a couple of ours with that Perkins guy. I'd rather you waited here." Fred nodded. He knew it was useless to argue once Harry had made up his mind. "You're going to win. If it doesn't go to plan, then I'm dropping out of Hogwarts. We don't need grades- we're starting our own shop." Fred felt Harry kiss his neck. "I know. But, if it all does go south- don't drop out of Hogwarts. I need you to make sure nothing funny happens while I'm gone." Fred shook his head. "We shouldn't speak like this. You're going to win, and you're going back to Hogwarts. I don't care how you do it, but win the damn trial. You understand me?" Upon feeling Harry's nod, Fred released him and kissed his soft lips. "I believe in you. Now go on, clear off and let me get some more sleep." Harry snickered and kissed Fred again. "I'll see you later." With that, Harry walked out of the room. 

Despite saying he wanted more sleep, Fred didn't get any. He just laid in bed, listening to George's light snores thinking about Harry's hearing. Some time after Harry left the room, Fred heard the front door open, then close, and he knew Harry had left. This isn't fair. Fred thought. He didn't do anything wrong, he only defended himself. What was he supposed to do, just let the damn Dementors attack him? Getting up, he walked over to George's bed. "Oi. George. I need to talk to you." George just grunted in his sleep and rolled over. "Brilliant. I'll go to Ginny then." After waiting a few more seconds, Fred sighed and left the room. Crossing the hall, he knocked on the door of his sister's room. He could hear voices coming from downstairs, but couldn't tell whose they were. Ginny opened the door a tiny crack, peering out at Fred. "What do you two want?" She asked, not particularly kindly. Fred brushed it off as early morning drowsiness. "It's just me. I need to talk to you." Then, he remembered she shared a room with Hermione. "Alone." Ginny nodded, and silently slipped out of the room. Fred led the way to the spare bedroom on the floor above. The nameplate read 'Regulus Arcturus Black.' "Must be Sirius' older brother or something." Fred said as he entered the room. 

The room was quite big, with a nice sized bed in the middle. There were fading Slytherin posters on the wall, and a picture of a Quidditch team. Fred spotted Regulus pretty quickly, he looked a lot like Sirius. "He played Seeker." Ginny said, acknowledging the boy in the centre. He looked no older than fifteen. Fred nodded and sat on the bed. "So. What's up, George?" Fred shook his head. "I'm Fred." Ginny suddenly seemed to become more reluctant to be there. "Oh. Right." Fred, once again, shook it off. "What's up?" Ginny asked. Fred shrugged. "I'm just confused, worried, angry and, I'm not gonna lie, a bit upset." He only ever spoke like this to George, Charlie, Ginny, Harry and Mum. They were the only ones he would open up to. His younger sister shrugged. "I get that. It's Harry, right?" She said, with a slight bitter tone. "Yeah. It's not fair, Gin. At all. Harry didn't do anything wrong. He just defended himself. And now- and now he's at the Ministry, facing a hearing he doesn't deserve, probably getting kicked out of Hogwarts. Ginny, he could be expelled today! He could never go back!" He exclaimed angrily. He told Ginny everything. How it was unfair that Harry was threatened with expulsion in the first place, how he'd leave Hogwarts if Harry got expelled, how worried he was about how Harry felt, why he was so concerned about the Minister of Magic being the judge, and everything else that came with it. By the time he'd finished, the sun had fully risen, and George had joined them on the bedspread. "He's gonna be fine, mate. Honestly. Dumbledore will have figured something out. Probably got a muggle to use as a witness or something." Fred shook his head. "Muggles can't see Dementors. They'd be useless." George sighed.   
"Oh yeah. Forgot about that." Ginny laid a stiff hand on Fred's lap. "Do you feel better? Now that you've got all that out?" She asked gently. To Fred, her voice sounded really forced, as though she was straining herself to be nice. "Yeah. Yeah I do. Thanks, Ginny." He smiled. Ginny left the room to go and get some breakfast. Agreeing with her decision, Fred and George slowly rose from the bed. 

"What's got into her?" George asked as they descended the stairs. "No clue. She's been dodgy with me since I announced I was going to the Ball with Harry." George snorted.   
"Reckon she still has a crush on him?" Fred grinned and shook his head. "Nah. She'd be well over him by now. Besides, me and Harry have been dating for almost a year now, and she hasn't said anything to me about it." George nodded and hummed a soft tune. Fred recognised it as the one he and Harry had danced to after their first kiss. "Are you actually being serious?" He grinned, slapping his twin playfully on the arm. George smirked at him. "Yep. Happy memories and all, Freddie my boy." The twins laughed as they entered the kitchen. They found themselves looking into the grave, slightly angry faces of Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and their Mum. The grins fell off their faces as quickly as they came, and Fred feared the worst and felt his face go pale. "Oh god. No. No no no no no, they didn't expel him!" He said, interlocking his fingers behind his head. Remus shook his head. "No, Fred, they didn't expel him. Although, Arthur sent us a Patronus. His hearing is in front of the entire Wizengamot." Fred gulped.   
"What?" George croaked beside him. "The entire Wizengamot? What are they planning on doing, chucking him in Azkaban?" Sirius and Fred shuddered at the thought of the place. "Please, George, never put the image of my godson in that hellhole ever again." Sirius said. For once in his life, Fred was speechless. The entire Wizengamot? He thought furiously. It's a simple matter of underage magic! George clicked his fingers in front of his face. "You alive in there?" Fred nodded and plopped down into the chair opposite Hermione. "How are you feeling?" She asked him gently. Knowing everyone was listening, he smiled softly at her. "I'm fine. It's just Harry I'm worried about." Hermione nodded knowingly.   
"You know, we're always, erm, we're always here for you, Fred. If you ever need to, you know." Ron stuttered. Despite never showing it, Fred cared very deeply for his younger brother, so instead of tormenting him like he usually would, Fred smiled. "Thanks, Ron." Ron's ears turned pink as Mum served them all breakfast. "Harry's hearing time changed. Arthur thinks he should be back in about half an hour from now. Fred nodded. He could barely speak. Harry would be sat in the courtroom right now. They were probably already close to deciding his verdict, if they hadn't already. Sipping on his boiling tea, Fred realised that there would only be half an hour until he saw Harry again. It hadn't seemed that long since his boyfriend left, but he knew it had been at least a couple of hours. Time flew by in times like these. 

Sure enough, it was only what seemed to be ten seconds later when the front door opened, then closed. The tension in the room was almost thick enough to cut with a knife. Everyone's eyes turned to the kitchen door as Arthur and Harry walked in. They both had solemn looks on their faces. Harry remained in the doorway, but Arthur sat in a chair and put his head in his hands. Standing up, Fred walked over to Harry. The younger boy hadn't said a word, only stood sadly, leaning on the doorframe and staring at his shoes. Fred cleared his throat. He feared the worst had happened, but he forbade himself to think about it, lest he get upset. "Harry? Harry, what happened?" Hearing Fred's voice, Harry looked up. His face was sad, he looked depressed. Glancing down at Harry's pocket, Fred's heart dropped through the floor. There was no wand. Fred pulled him into a hug. "It's ok. We'll figure something out." By now, everyone had caught on to what had happened, and there were sighs of exasperation all around him, but still nobody said anything. Then, Fred felt Harry's face change. "I don't know why you're hugging me." Fred pulled away, confused. Harry was grinning. "Cleared of all charges!" There were cheers around the room as Fred slapped Harry playfully round the head. "You cheeky git! I thought you were done for!" Laughing, Arthur gave Harry his wand back. "I love seeing these two get pranked every now and then."

There was a celebration, during which Fred, George and Ginny chanted "he got off, he got off, he got off" until their mother had to scream at them to stop. Ron mentioned at some point that Dumbledore might come and celebrate with them, but that was shut down pretty quickly, with him being very busy and all.

That night, they all got their Hogwarts letters. Fred and George's were, as usual, identical. "Hang on. Fred, something fell out of your letter." George said, noticing the shine that had caught the light. Fred picked the shiny something off of the bed, took one look at it, and threw it back down. It was a Head Boy Badge. "No way." He said, backing away from the thing. Harry crossed the room and picked it up. "What? How?" He threw it to George. "Freddie, how the hell did you get this?" he shook his head. Fred watched as George took his booklist from his letter, and a shiny something fell out, with a note attached. George also got a Head Boy badge. "How can we both get it?" George asked. "There's only one Head Boy, right?" Fred shrugged, pinning it all to Dumbledore being his usual, mysterious self. "What does the note say?" he asked. George shrugged, his hands shaking as he unfolded it. " _'Because you don't get one without the other.'_ He made us both Head Boy! No way, I don't wanna be Head Boy!" Fred had the same feelings. "We have to write to Dumbledore, tell him we don't want it." Looking inside his envelope, he saw another slip of parchment. "Hang on, he wrote me something else." Taking the note from the envelope, he read aloud. 

_'Dear Mr Weasley,  
You are surely wondering why I made you and your twin Head Boys, after all the pranks you've pulled and the trouble you get in? Well, last year you both showed real responsibility for Harry Potter during the Triwizard Tournament, handling the issues with the press and the Slytherin students remarkably well, bar a couple of incidents. You both showed how can handle the situations you are given, and what action to take. Over the years, you have proved to me that you know where the line is and when to step a toe over it. You are both lifelines of Gryffindor house and Hogwarts itself, meaning you both brighten up everybody's days at school. Yes, you may be the school pranksters, but you know when to turn off the hilarity, as you proved to me last year. Don't let this harm your reputation. You didn't hear this from me, but you can still pull your pranks. You may not be perfect, straight-O students, but I have faith that you will do well in your roles. If you should, however, wish to step down from your posts, I will fully understand. _

_Sincerely,  
Albus Dumbledore.'"_

"I reckon we should do it." George said. Fred nodded. "I reckon we should, too. We can give detentions to all the Slytherins." They grinned identically. Harry emptied his envelope out onto the bed. The usual bit of parchment fell out, along with an information leaflet about OWLs. "I didn't get Quidditch captain, then." He said, sounding a little disappointed. "Mind you, Angelina's in your year, isn't she? She would've got it. I forgot about her." Shrugging, he began to read through his booklist. "You didn't get Prefect either." Fred said, remembering Prefects we're chosen in Fifth Year. Harry just shrugged. "I don't care. I'd rather not be a Prefect." He smirked. "Or Head Boy. OW!" He yelled, as Fred threw the badge at him. "Harry." Ron's voice was quiet, but it carried. Turning, Fred saw Ron stood in the doorway, holding a red badge. "No way." He said.   
"Ronnie got Prefect!" George joined in. "Mum already knows. She hugged me... and kissed me." He said with a grimace. "It was a bone-breaking one, wasn't it?" George said, a grimace of pain on his face. Everyone in the room had felt Molly's rib-cracking, head-smacking, bone-breaking hugs. Ron nodded. "Don't tease me. I didn't know I was gonna get it." Harry walked over to join them. "They can't tease you. They got Head Boys." Fred closed his eyes, praying to Merlin that Mum wasn't actually stood in the door at that very moment. "They got- what do you mean- how could they both- Head Boys? This is wonderful!" She shrieked. Next second, the twins were pulled into a hug so fiercely that their heads banged together, sending a sharp pain down Fred's neck. "OUCH! MUM, GEROFF!" They yelled in unison. "I though... after all the pranks... you two getting into so much trouble... oh Fred and George!" After a last squeeze, she released them, tears glistening in her eyes and on her face. Despite himself, Fred grinned. So did George. "How did you both get it?" Ron asked. Fred shrugged. "Dunno. George's came with a note that said _'because you don't get one without the other.'"_ Mum sighed and smiled fondly. "Well, you two deserve something. Percy got an owl, Ron's getting a broom. What do you two want?" The twins shared a look. They both knew exactly what they wanted. They looked down at the floor. "Your blessing." George said, very quietly. Mum frowned. "Sorry, dear, what was that?" Fred raised his head to look at her. "Your blessing. We want your blessing to open the joke shop." Mum's smile faltered.   
"Not- not a broom? Or robes? Or an owl?" They both shook their heads. "No. This doesn't cost money." George said. Fred finished his sentence. "Instead, it'll help give people a laugh when things get really dark. Which they will do. And soon." George took a deep breath. "So we don't want owls..."  
"... or robes..."  
"...or a new broom..."  
"... we want our joke shop." They finished together. After a full minute of thought, Mum nodded. "Very well. You can open your shop. I'm still not happy about it, but you can do it." The twins grinned. Fred felt elated. His Mum had, after over a year of asking, given them her blessing to start the job they loved so much. As one, Fred and George hugged their mother. "Thank you, Mum. So much." They said together. 

That night, there was a party for Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione, who had also been made Prefect. Two banners had been strung up. One read 'Congratulations, Ron and Hermione- new Gryffindor Prefects!' While the other read 'Fred and George- New Head Boys of Hogwarts!' Everyone from the Inner Circle of the Order came down to celebrate in the crowded kitchen. Nearly everyone thought it was going to be Harry that got Prefect, but the Fifth Year didn't seem to mind. "I don't really care who's Prefect. I'm just glad you're one of the Head Boys. You could get me out of any detentions Malfoy gives me. His Dad's on the board- he definitely got Prefect." Fred sighed. "Oh well. Me and George are going to give it a trial run, a few weeks or something, then if we don't like it we're going to Dumbledore. We get the choice between the Head dorms or our Gryffindor one, you know. If we had the Head dorms, we'd have a room each, and you'd be able to stay I think. If you did, we'd have all the privacy we need." He said, leaning in to kiss Harry. They fought playfully for dominance for a few seconds before Fred won and captured Harry's bottom lip between his teeth, causing a groan from the younger boy. The sound sent shivers down his spine, and he reluctantly pulled away as Mad-Eye walked over. "Congrats, Weasley." He grunted. Fred smiled at the ex-Auror. "Thanks, Mad-Eye. Guessing you want Harry?" After a curt nod, Fred told Harry to meet him upstairs, and went up to bed. 

He was Head Boy. He, Fred Gideon Weasley, was Head Boy. It was a strange thought, after he teased Percy for being made Prefect and Head Boy. He'd always shuddered at the thought of such responsibility. He and George weren't going to cut down on their pranks. If they had their Headboyship taken from them, it wouldn't be much of a loss. Besides, they now had their mother's blessing to open their joke shop, which is probably the best thing that's ever happened to them. Smiling to himself, he heard the door open and Harry walking across the room. Fred climbed off of the bed and changed with Harry into his   
pyjamas. Getting under the covers, they snuggled facing each other. "What did Mad-Eye want?" Fred asked. Harry shrugged. "He showed me a picture of the original Order of the Phoenix. He's watching us, I can feel it." Fred nodded. He, too, had the feeling someone was watching them. "Who was in the picture?" Harry shrugged. "Some people I didn't recognise, the people in it now, my parents, Neville's parents, and Peter Pettigrew." Harry practically spat the name. Feeling sympathetic for his young boyfriend, Fred smirked. "Let's give Mad-Eye a bit of a show." Harry smiled. Leaning in ever so slightly, their lips collided, and the tongue war began. 

Hours later, when everyone was asleep, Fred was woken by Harry twitching in his sleep. "Harry... Harry, wake up." But Harry didn't acknowledge his presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that’s another chapter in OOTP! What do you think to Fred and George being Head Boys? Lemme know. I’m leaving out the cleaning of Grimmauld Place because I can’t find a way to twist it so it’s HarryXFred. Reviews always welcome :)
> 
> Wattpad: ThatDudeThing


	14. The Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the most eventful August 31st yet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so sorry for the delay, I had writers block, then got a new phone, then I had a really busy period. Two chapters are up today, though, so stick with me!!

**Harry POV**

Harry jerked awake, tangling himself in the covers as he did so. The image of the long, black corridor was rapidly fading from his mind as he took in his surroundings. He was at Grimmauld Place. He was sharing a room with Fred and George. He has not been expelled from Hogwarts. He-. "Harry." Harry jumped, turning towards the sound. Everything was a blur, so he scooped up his glasses from the bedside table and rammed them onto his face. The room was dimly lit by the two wands in front of him. As the things in front of him came into focus, he recognised two faces, exactly identical. "Fred." He said at the closest identical face. "Are you alright, Harry?" Fred asked. Harry nodded, taking deep breaths in an attempt to steady his racing heart. "Are you sure? Scared us a bit there, mate. We couldn't wake you up. I was about to go and get Sirius." George said. Again, Harry nodded. "Yeah. Just- just a bad dream about he Third Task." Harry had a feeling that the twins didn't believe him. Thankfully, George retreated to his bed without any further questioning, and Fred pulled him into a warm, comforting hug. Harry rested his head on Fred's chest and continued to breathe deeply. He might not sleep again tonight, he could tell Fred about the dream once George was snoring again. He felt bad for lying, but a long, dark corridor that was strangely familiar is harder to explain than the Third Task. Even so, Harry let Fred's steady heartbeat soothe him. Lifting his head off of Fred's chest, he glanced up to meet his boyfriend's eyes. The sapphire blue irises, concern and anxiousness forged by the events of the night, glistened by the moonlight streaming through the windows and reflected through the moisture in them. Harry gazed back down at him, feeling nothing but love for the redhead he adored so much. 

"Do you want to lay back down?" Fred asked quietly, so only Harry could hear. Harry nodded, and Fred guided him back to the bed, tugging the covers up and around the pair of them. Harry snuggled against Fred's chest and continued to listen to his heartbeat. "What was the dream about?" Harry tensed slightly, so Fred rubbed soothing circles on his back. Harry listened carefully. Thankfully, all he could hear was George lightly snoring from the next bed. Thanking Merlin for blessing George with quick sleeping, he explained to Fred about the corridor, what it looked like, how it was oddly familiar, and how it made his scar prickle. "It's strange. I don't know how I've seen it before, but I know I have." He concluded. Fred sighed and tugged Harry closer to him. "Maybe it's just some sort of trauma from the Third Task. I can't explain how you've seen it before, but the Third Task might have something to do with it. Do you want me to get Mum? See if she has anything for your scar?" Harry shook his head. His scar was barely prickling, now that he had explained the dream to Fred. Surprisingly, it made him feel better, more relaxed, when he spoke about what he had seen. 

Fred rolled over onto his back, temporarily letting go of Harry until the younger boy rested his head on Fred's chest. Harry wrapped his arm around Fred's waist, running his free hand through the flaming red hair. He let Fred's slow, deep breaths soothe him. Fred fell asleep before him, his low, gentle snores vibrating in his chest. Harry chuckled silently. He'd never heard Fred snore before. His thoughts were drawn away from the dream as he listened with amusement as Fred and George's snores fell in sync. They inhaled, then exhaled, together. He let the sound relax him as he finally fell into a doze.

The same dream about the long, black corridor continued to plague him for the next few nights. Every time he woke up, Fred and George would be at the door of his bed, wands lit. After making sure he was alright, George would retreat to his own bed; Harry and Fred would stay awake for another half hour while Harry recalled the dream. It was the same every night, but Fred always listened and gave his opinion on the recurring nightmare. It was only after three days of the relentless taunting that Harry decided to speak to Sirius about it, after much badgering from Fred and Hermione. "You have to tell him, he's your godfather!" Fred has exclaimed one sunny afternoon, while the twins, Harry, Ron and Hermione were all sat in the drawing room. "Fred's right, Harry, you can't keep it from him. He cares about you, we all do, but you should talk to him about it." Hermione had said. Harry recalled thinking about how smart Hermione could be, but also how stupid. "I can't. He'll go to Dumbledore, and he has enough on his mind." He said. Harry was adamant that Sirius wouldn't find out, at least not from him. "Well, if you don't tell him, then we will. He needs to know, mate." Ron said, crossing his arms over his chest. Harry sighed. "Fine. But if he goes to Dumbledore, just know I will hate you forever." The four people in from of him just smiled. 

"Sirius, can I have a word? Privately?" Harry asked at dinner that night, leaning to the side slightly so that only Sirius could hear him. His godfather looked down at him, concern lining his face. "Of course, is everything alright?" He said quietly. Harry nodded.  
"I'll explain later." After dinner, they left before anyone else had even began to rise from the table, and headed to the drawing room. "What's going on, Harry?" Sirius asked. Harry took a deep breath, pondering how to start his story. "Well, it sort of started right after the Third Task. I keep having these dreams. It's always the same: a long corridor. I'm hurtling towards it, trying desperately to reach something, but I never do. I always wake up right before I find the something I'm after. And the corridor- it's familiar. I don't know, it just is. And every time I wake up, my scar it sort of prickles for a while." Sirius nodded and hummed in thought.  
"Do you know what it is you're chasing?" Harry shook his head. "No. I've got a feeling I do, somewhere, but as soon as I wake up, the dream sort of fades from memory." He felt extremely foolish, like he was doing a bad job of explaining the situation. "Does Fred know?" Harry was taken aback by this question. He wasn't expecting Sirius to question him about his love life whilst talking about a dream. "Er... yeah. Yeah, of course we- we share a bed." He all but whispered the last part, staring at his shoes. Sirius walked forwards and grasped Harry's shoulders. "Harry, look at me." Harry rose his head, staring into Sirius' silver eyes. "I think your dreams are just an aftermath of the Third Task. You're confused, your mind is everywhere, and it's taking you to a place you barely recognise. I get why you're concerned, but I wouldn't worry. If it continues, you owl me, ok?" Harry nodded, feeling more relieved than he had all summer, like a weight had been lifted from his chest. Sirius pulled him into a hug, and Harry buried his face in his chest. Thanking Merlin for Hermione's wisdom and Fred's persuasion skills, he held onto his godfather. He was going to miss Sirius when he goes back to Hogwarts. 

Sirius had been acting different lately, usually choosing to spend time up in his room with Buckbeak rather than with everyone else. He was isolating himself, and when he came out of his room he was usually moody and quiet, much unlike the cheery Sirius Harry knew. "Well you'd feel lonely too, if you had to be cooped up in here by yourself all the time!" Hermione had said when Harry breached the subject one evening. "I bet a part of him wanted you to be expelled, so you could be outcasts together."  
"Come off it!" Ron and Harry exclaimed together, while Fred and George exclaimed "no way!" Hermione, however, only shrugged. "Suit yourselves. But I still think that your Mum's right when she says that Sirius sometimes gets Harry and James mixed up." Harry felt himself go red in the face. "So you think he's touched in the head?" He said heatedly.  
"No! I just think he's been alone for too long. He'll have company, of course. This place is the Headquarters for the Order of course, but personally I think he's being selfish."  
"That's a bit harsh, Hermione." Ron said. "You wouldn't want to be stuck in here 24/7 would you?" Hermione shrugged again. "It doesn't really matter. When the Order's not around, he'll have Kreacher." She said, referring to the old house elf that taunted every living thing that set foot in the Noble House of Black. "Yeah, because he's such a cheerful thing to be around all the time." George said sarcastically. Hermione frowned at him. "If we treated him with respect and gave him some rights, I bet he'll be loads better behaved than what he is now! It's not his fault people are horrible to him!" She all but shouted, taking George by surprise. "Whoa, chill Granger." He said, raising his hands in surrender. "Just come back and tell me the same thing the next time that old brat calls you a Mudblood."  
"He had that notion implanted in his head by his masters! Maybe now that you know how dreadful people can affect house elves like him, you'll be more active in SPEW." She said, hope now edging her voice. Harry and the Weasleys just groaned. "You know, people really could use a taste of house elves' lives. Maybe we could do a sponsored clean up of the Gryffindor Common Room, all proceeds going to SPEW. It could help raise awareness." They groaned again, and Ron had mumbled "i'll sponsor you to shut up about SPEW."

As the house got quiet again, Harry found himself thinking of, not just his dream, but Hogwarts as well. His near-expulsion experience had made him realise just how much he missed school. Playing Quidditch, attending class, even just walking down to see Hagrid in his giant wooden hut sent a pang to his chest whenever he thought about them. Being inside the HQ of the Order that was fighting against Voldemort wasn't as appealing as it used to be. Order members came and went, but hardly ever stopped for dinner. He got a glimpse of Professor McGonagall at one point, but she didn't stay for long. Even using Fred and George's Extendable Ears has been useless, as wards had been set up so they couldn't listen in. 

The night before they were due to set off back to Hogwarts, Bill and Mundungus joined them for dinner, much to the joy and slight annoyance of Mrs Weasley. Harry, Fred and George were sat with Dung, as the twins were trying to buy something off of him. George showed Harry what was in his hands. They looked like wrinkled black pods. "Venomous Tentacula seeds." George said. "We need them for our Skiving Snackboxes but there a Class C Non-Tradeable Substance so we haven't been able to get hold of any." He said, wrinkling his nose slightly. "Ten Galleons for the lot, eh, Dung?" Fred said, getting his money bag or if his pocket. "Sorry lads, not taking a Knut under twenty. Took too much trouble to get 'em." Fred grinned at Harry and kissed his forehead. "Dung loves his little jokes." He smiled as George pondered the six Sickles they paid for Knarl quills. "Be careful. Moody could have his eye on you." Dung went slightly pale and shoved the rest of the seeds into George's hands. "Good point. Ten Galleons, lads, if you'll take 'em quick." 

As Harry was retreating to his room for the night with Fred, they heard sobbing comping from the drawing room. They both froze and walked closer to the door. "That's Mum." Fred murmured. They slowly opened to door. To Harry's horror, Ron was laying dead on the floor. Looking up at Fred, he saw that he was very pale. Ron was covered in blood, and Mrs Weasley was sobbing next to him, pointing her wand at the body. Hang on. Harry thought. I just saw Ron downstairs. Mrs Weasley raises her wand, then pointed it back at Ron. "Ridikulus!" Crack. Dead Ginny. Harry's heart lurked. Her body was bent in all sorts of different angles. Crack. Dead Mr Weasley. Crack. Dead twins. Crack. Dead Percy. Crack. Dead Harry. It continued until Remus burst through the door, the Boggart turning itself into a moon, then exploding into dust. Remus hugged Mrs Weasley tightly. "It's just, half-half the f-family's in the Order! P-Percy's not talking to us as- as well. What if- what if something d-dreadful h-happens to me and A-Arthur and we never make it up to- to him? Who'll take care of- of Ron and Ginny? F-Fred and George have-haven't even finished s-school yet!" Remus smiled.  
"Sometimes you're not the brightest person, Molly. What do you think we'd do, let them starve? They'll always have us, should something happen. I doubt it will, though, you Weasleys are so strong. Besides, the Order are better prepared this time. We know what the Death Eaters are up to, we have a lead, a head start. The last time we were outnumbered twenty to one. This time, we have the advantage."  
"Don't worry about Percy." Sirius said abruptly. "He'll come around. Once Voldemort-" Fred gave a jolt of fright at the name "- moves into the open, the Ministry will be practically begging for forgiveness. I know I, for one, won't be accepting their apology." Mrs Weasley chuckled. "Yes, you're right. Silly- so silly of me." Remus released Mrs Weasley as she dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve. "There's nothing silly, Molly! Everyone's afraid of something, and your family's deaths are a more than rational fear!" Fred stepped forward and knelt in front of his Mum. "Yeah. For example, I'm most afraid of George dying. And he's most afraid of me dying." He took hold of Mrs Weasley's hand. "It's normal to be afraid of Death, Mum." Mrs Weasley pilled Fred into a hug, murmuring things Harry couldn't hear. Everyone stood and watched until she released Fred a minute later. 

Harry, laying in bed that night, could not think of Mrs Weasley as silly. He thought if the people in the photograph Mad-Eye had shown him, all the smiling faces who didn't know their lives were about to end. The image of Fred and George lying dead on the ground, bleeding copiously from multiple wounds was firmly imprinted on his mind, so he couldn't forget that they, too, could be taken away at any moment. Suddenly, his scar seared with pain. He clamped his hand to his forehead, sitting up abruptly. "Cut it out." He said. Fred rose next to him. "You alright?" He said quietly. Harry grasper his head tighter as the pain intensified. "Fine. My scar's hurting, that's all." He whispered. The pain slowly faded, and he relaxed into Fred's arms. 

"You know in the drawing room, when Mum hugged me, she told me she's proud of me. Proud of who I've become." Fred said shortly after, holding Harry a little tighter. Harry shifted so he could wrap his arm around Fred's waist. "Really?" He asked. Fred hummed in agreement. "Yeah. She told me she was happy that George and I know what we want to do, and who we want to be. She said she's proud of us for reaching Head Boys, and that we're doing so well in life. It was strange, I never expected her to say anything like that." Harry squeezed Fred comfortingly. "I'm sure she means every word. You two are amazing, and your shop is going to be successful." Fred sighed and laid back down on the bed. Harry joined him, laying his head across Fred's broad chest. "I get dreams too, you know." Harry shifted slightly, remembering not so fondly the night that Fred had woken up screaming. "Yeah, I'm aware." He said, a little harsher than he intended. He heard Fred take a deep breath, feeling the exhale ruffle his hair. "It's more like a nightmare, really. I can't explain it, I don't know how." Harry hates to admit it, but Fred sounded nervous, and a little scared. He couldn't help but think of what could possibly scare the seemingly fearless Fred Weasley. "I see George. And you. And Ron, and Ginny. All tied up in a row, tied to those straight wooden chairs McGonagall conjures. Then there's You Know Who, and he tortured you. All of you. One by one, until you're all screaming at him to kill you, which he does. In the most painful, evil, brutal way possible. Slicing and dicing. Some nights, I just can't get away, and I'm tied to a chair, forced to watch. Those are the worst nights. Other nights when I have them, I try and fight You Know Who, but then I get killed, or he just kills you all. I hate it, Harry, I really do. I don't ever want to lose you, or any of my siblings. The only reason I'm scared of You Know Who is because of what I see in my dreams. I don't know what he actually looks like, but in my dream he's a bit like a pale snake with blood red eyes." Harry's heart was hammering in his chest. The image that Fred's story brought to mind was the most unpleasant he had ever seen. He couldn't imagine what dreaming that almost every night could feel like. Suddenly, the dream about the long corridor seemed so tame, so mild to watching your closest family members being tortured and killed while you helplessly watched. "But none of that matters, because it's all fake and in my head." Fred said, almost cheerfully.  
"I do wonder how you do it sometimes, Freddie." He said wonderingly, as Fred chuckled and tugged the covers up to their necks. "Young love. Bleurgh." Came the voice from the painting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews welcome :))

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews and Kudos always welcome :) my Wattpad Username is ThatDudeThing :))


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